Sandi L. Boucher (Red Thunderbolt, Loon clan, Seine River First Nation) leads a Facebook Live titled “I Am Not a Christian,” inviting viewers to notice and unpack their instantaneous reactions to her statement “I am not a Christian.” She frames this as a practice to expose inherited biases rooted in colonial attempts to assimilate Indigenous peoples into Christianity, uses an eagle-feather metaphor (two sides of the feather) to illustrate mutual respect and boundary work, and urges non-Indigenous Canadians to do their own work (shut down racist comments, elect respectful politicians) so Indigenous communities can heal. The tone is conversational, didactic, and invitational.
Chapters
Hi, everybody, it's Andy Boucher once again. I'm Red Thunderbolt, woman of the Loon clan, a proud member of Seine river first nation in Northern Ontario Treaty 3 territory. And I'm here today to discuss a very important topic. Now, for those of you who might join us late, this is one of those videos that I would encourage you. Hey, Nessa, how are you doing? My cousin is in the house. Cheryl. Oh my God, people are showing up today. I love this and I love that you're here early because what I was just going to say is if you end up joining later on, and I'll repeat this, obviously this is one of those Facebook lives that you should go back and watch from the beginning. Because what I'm going to do in the next few seconds is going to be really important to understanding the entire teaching that I'm trying to pass on today. Now, as I mentioned in the little blurb, the lead up to this. Hi, Tammy. When you want to change things, when there is a problem to address, you have to talk about the problem. And unfortunately, that's often uncomfortable. And that's why it doesn't happen as often as it needs to. That is the basis of my entire career creating safe spaces for difficult conversations and what people love to call dumb questions, which honestly, if you're asking a question, it's not dumb. It shows interest. Norman, my die hard fan, Norman comes out almost every single day. And Norman, I absolutely appreciate it. Nicole is here, one of my book readers. I'm thrilled that you could join us. One of the root issues in Canada, and trust me, this issue brings up emotions and challenges. Hello. One of the biggest challenges is wrapped up in the ball of religion. So how I want to start out today, I have a little exercise for you to do. I'm going to help you practice unpacking. I'm about to say something and what I need you to do is just hopefully you can put down your pen or whatever you're doing and just listen for a couple of seconds. What I need you to do is hear my words and then pay attention to the instantaneous reaction you have, if there is one. Is it surprise? Is it concern? Are assumptions made? Whatever it is, this is not about beating you up. This is not about feeling guilty about whatever you feel. It is about being honest about what you feel. What I don't want is a bunch of people. Oh, Norman, you got your book yesterday. Awesome. Yay. What I don't want is a bunch of people typing into the comments the right answers or the politically Correct answer. I am more concerned, honestly, and more focused on the people that may not have the desirable result. So that might have been confusing. It won't be in a second. Are you ready? I'm gonna say the words, and I want you to honestly pay attention to your physical, emotional, spiritual, mental reaction. Here it is. I am not a Christian. Now, there's a good chance, if you're following my work, that there's some of you that were thinking, well, neither am I. There's some of you who are thinking so. And all of that is good. What I'm concerned about are the people I'm trying to reach are the ones that. That made them nervous or uncomfortable, because that is one of the root causes of the problems in Canada. When the settlers got here. If they had been okay with people not being Christian, then they wouldn't have worked so hard to try to bring us into the Christian fold, to assimilate us, to turn us into practicing people, practicing Christianity. We had our faith. We have our customs and our traditions that are just as spiritual as in. And as empowering. Now, there might be some in this group that think, well, yeah, but that was ages ago. And I can tell you firsthand, it is very alive today. I meet people on a regular basis that get super uncomfortable when. When they hear me say, I'm not Christian, as if somehow that challenges the fact that they are. And that could not be further from the truth. And I'm going to share, show you why, to share why. It's actually one of our feather teachings. So this is an eagle feather. Two sides to the feather, hard to see the stem going down. One side of the feather is you. The other side of the feather is me. You take care of you. You follow whatever system, religion, faith works for you, helps you to get up from a fall, helps you to stand back up when life brings you to your knees, helps you to be a good person, helps you to heal. You follow those teachings. I'm going to be on my side of the fellow doing same. Because they're different does not mean I'm a threat to you or you're a threat to me. We can actually walk together. And in fact, when we learn to respect each other is when the feather comes together. I have amazing friends of a Muslim faith, Jewish faith, Christian faith. I love that they have a religion they believe in. They love that I have teachings I believe in. We don't adopt or assimilate to each other's teachings because there is no threat. But what I need you to do now is Unpack. Is there a group that you can think of whose teachings you automatically trigger and believe are a threat? Because if that does happen, you need to unpack that because that is the exact feeling, issue, problem that led to devastation for indigenous people. Another faith is not a faith or not a threat. It is just another faith. You believe whatever you choose to believe and I'm going to do same. And if it helps us make makes us better people, then why wouldn't we support each other? Feel free to share this widely so that we can get people unpacking that I will always support. What? Whatever faith you believe in, if it's making you a better person. Absolutely. I don't need to sit in judgment of your teachings, but we really need people to stop sitting in judgment of ours. Thank you, Cheryl. You're most welcome. This is so in line with what I was talking about yesterday. Nothing for us or about us, without us. We don't need to be saved. We don't need to be changed. We need to be accepted. And we need to accept because it's so easy to sit in judgment of other people. Which reminds me, I do want to share one thing. The two sides to the feather. So many people have to learn to stay in their own lane. We don't need to be saved as Indigenous people. Indigenous people are not struggling today because we need more people saving us. Indigenous people are struggling today because not enough people are doing their work on their side of the feather. We could heal if the attack stopped happening. So if you're not, not if you're not Indigenous, if you are a non Indigenous Canadian, your work is. Is with people like you. You need to shut down those racist comments. You need to elect politicians that understand diversity and inclusion and have respect for Indigenous people. That is where your work is. Our communities will heal. We can look after our own. But we need you to do your work because you still get into rooms that we're not allowed in. And that's where the change absolutely has to happen. So there you have it, my friends again. If you joined late, please go back to the beginning of this Facebook live and watch the beginning. Watch the little unpacking exercise, because it's absolutely important. And then as you go on about your day today, do your unpacking. Notice what catches you off guard, what upsets you, what makes you nervous. And then take the time to unpack and ask yourself why. Because there's a really good chance that you got garbage in your suitcase that you inherited you shouldn't be carrying anymore. Not because whoever raised you is a bad person. But because we've all inherited garbage, and if they didn't get to unpack it, we better so that our kids and grandkids don't have to. There you go, my friends. Until tomorrow. No, I love you. Thanks so many of you for coming out today. Thank you, Tammy. I so appreciate that. Until tomorrow. I love you. Take care. Bye. Bye.
