Sandi L Boucher wrote her first book in 2010 to preserve Anishinaabe teachings after her mother died, then built a 14-year career on storytelling seminars instead of following publishing industry advice. She now plans to present future materials in Ojibwe, requiring non-Indigenous audiences to use translation tools as an act of reciprocal cultural accommodation.
Questions this video answers
2010.
Seine River First Nation.
Loon clan.
Treaty 3 territory (Northern Ontario).
Anishinaabe (Ojibwe).
Chapters
Sam. Foreign. Hi, everybody. My name is Sandy Boucher. I'm Red Thunderbolt, woman of the Loon clan, a proud member of Seine River first nation in Treaty 3 territory in Northern Ontario. And at the beginning of this week, in the very first video, if you're new here, you. Have you noticed this place is kind of different? And by the way, if you're new here, you're probably a new subscriber. Thank you so much for that. I so appreciate it. Thank you for helping me to reach my goals. But I promised you that I do things differently here, and that's what I was talking about in the opening. So way back when, when I wrote my first book back in 2010, my mom had just passed away. She had carried so many strong Anishinaabe teachings and stories, and I was just so, so terrified that I was going to forget them. And on top of that, I realized those stories and teachings could help so many other people. And they weren't going to get to meet her now because she was gone. So. And I felt selfish because I knew them, but I needed to share them. So I sat down and wrote a book. And almost as soon as I started, I heard from people that were telling me, well, you can't do that. You can't just write a book. I mean, how are you going to get it published? And who's, who's going to edit it? And. And you got to go take a writing course. And that made no sense to me because as I mentioned earlier this week, I have. I was the girl with the diary when I was 7. I had a journal as a teenager. I have been writing my entire life. So. And I even tried at one point to go take a course. And true story, the poem they were sharing that night was about a woman who went and got educated and then couldn't talk to her own parents because of the way she now spoke her new vocabulary. That was a heads up to me. And I literally walked out on that course and wrote my book and my publisher found me, so, meh. And then I designed my first seminar and I was told, you can't do that. That's not how you design seminars. You can't be telling all these stories all the time. That's not how it's done. We where's the 10 steps? And again, not the Anishinaabe way. So I ignore them, did the seminars my way. And now people comment on how much they appreciate my seminars because they're so different. The reality is, you know, you and you were put on this planet to be you. Your power will always be your story. What you're passionate about and what you want to do, and trying to fit in someone else's box that they've created for you is how you lose your happy. Trust me, been there, done that. But there's some things I would still change. And one of them, like the blog post for this, is if I Had a Magic Wand. The title of this blog post, I can honestly say as Anishnaabe Quay, as an indigenous woman, an Ojibwe woman in the time of reconciliation, if I could wave a magic wand, this video would be in Anishinaabe moen. It'd be an Ojibwe, which would mean the non indigenous people who want to watch it would have to use a translator or a translator app to watch it, the way that their ancestors should have way back when. So I guess everything for a reason. I'm doing these blog posts and my keynotes and my seminars and workshops in English. Building a bridge. But at some point, Indigenous people are going to expect so much more from the other side of the feather. It can't be all about us learning your way anymore. It's about time to meet us in the middle of the bridge. So for now, seminars and videos in English until I find a way and a magic wand. I hope that made sense. Don't judge. Listen, contemplate. Try to understand. Until next week. I love you. Take care. Bye. Bye.
