A short YouTube talk by Sandi L. Boucher explaining what it means for a space or initiative to be Indigenous-centered: focused on the needs of Indigenous people rather than Canadians generally. She differentiates Indigenous-centered from non-Indigenous-centered participation, urges non-Indigenous viewers to avoid centering their own stories in those spaces, and encourages questions and respectful engagement to support reconciliation.
Chapters
Indigenous centered, important, essential if we're going to bring about change, but confusing. If you don't know the term, let's talk about it. Hello 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 I like to discuss all things Indigenous Canadian reconciliation. And today we're talking about Indigenous centered spaces or initiatives. So if something is Indigenous centered, it means it's centered on or focused on the needs of the Indigenous people that space or that initiative is trying to serve. And the reality is that up until very recently, most initiatives in Canada were Canadian initiatives, Canadian focused. And I hope by now you realize that something Canada or Canadians need may not necessarily be what Indigenous people need or Indigenous nations want. So I think most of you would agree. I can imagine if I took a vote, you would all agree that Indigenous centered initiatives and spaces are very much needed to bring about reconciliation. I don't see anyone arguing with me on that point. But here's the thing. When I share my blog posts or my videos, they are 99% of the time Indigenous centered. I may be speaking to non Indigenous people, but I'm talking about Indigenous needs with an Indigenous focus, trying to reconcile this country so it becomes a safe space once again for Indigenous people like it was before the settlers got here. But when I put those things out there now, the all of my fans, friends, followers who comment like, wow, I needed to hear that, or wow, I didn't understand that before. Thanks so much for sharing. Your comments are my fuel. I love you for it. Thank you. Please never change, please never stop. It's the non Indigenous people that comment and say, wow, I feel the same way. That sounds like no big deal. But in that same second, as soon as they say I, if they're non Indigenous, it becomes non Indigenous centered. And that's super important because Indigenous centered spaces and initiatives are so rare. And I hear, I can hear the people saying, well, what about us, honey? We've been saying what about us? Since the settlers got here. There are times where initiatives are needed that focus on a specific group, especially if that group has been marginalized, racialized or excluded from the mainstream conversation. We have different needs. That's not a negative, that's reality. We need Indigenous centered initiatives and spaces to address that. I ask you to keep that in mind. This is a learning journey that we're all on. When you comment, feel free to, you know, thank me for sharing the information. You can feel free to say, Wow, I need to think about this one for a second. I never thought of it that way, but as soon as you start comparing it to your story, or worse, you share your story. If you're non indigenous, you just eliminated an indigenous centered conversation. If you're indigenous, comment all you want. Does that make sense? Guys? I hope that makes sense. Would love to hear your comments and feedback. In this case, ask the questions so you understand this concept. Because we need these indigenous centered spaces. That means we can't have them eliminated just because someone constantly makes it about them. MySpace is Indigenous centered and I know you can respect that. Till tomorrow. I love you. Take care. Bye bye.
