Sandi L Boucher (aka Red/Red Thunderbolt), a member of Seine River First Nation (Treaty 3 Territory), describes strong backlash she received after publishing a blog post criticizing how employers fail to retain Indigenous employees and instead blame Indigenous workers. She explains why she moderates comments to keep her social channels safe for Indigenous people, recounts examples of racist and denialist responses (including denial of residential schools and minimizing missing children), and urges listeners to sit with her arguments and support reconciliation.
Chapters
Okay, true confession time. Recently, I committed a crime. To be fair, I didn't think it was a crime. I still don't think it's a crime. But many on the Internet sure did. And they had things to say. Let's talk about it. Hi, everybody. My name is Andy Boucher. Red. I'm Red Thunderbolt, woman of the Loon Plan. A proud member of Seine River First Nation in Treaty 3 Territory in Northern Ontario. And what I wanted to speak to today is. Well, first and foremost, I think that you realize I know my followers are amazing and so well educated, or they're on their way and at least open to learning. So I'd be willing to bet you realize that in Canada for many, many years, Indigenous people have suffered. And part of that suffering was the expectation of our silence, that we're not supposed to complain, that the stereotype was that we were less than somehow we deserved, the situation we were in and the treatment we received. Don't say anything. And honestly, for the longest time to say something was incredibly dangerous. And, and I love the fact that that's changing. I love that the things I say on a daily basis, my mom never could have said in her time here. So that was my crime. I released a blog post. Definitely the biggest reaction of a blog post I've received this year. Maybe I'll put a link to it below. But basically I called out the problem with indigenous employment. Employment training and retention. Indigenous people are being hired by company after company can tell you that they're not able to maintain their indigenous workforce, that one by one or on mass they're resigning, quitting, ghosting, whatever the case may be. And in the blog post I pointed out the problem that and I've heard employers, reps from huge companies say we need 500 people, like wear Adidas shoes on the shelf. And they have never bothered to ask why isn't it working. They just blame us because the stereotype works. It must be our fault that we're lazy or whatever the case may be. How dare we complain? Well, if you've never experienced racism, that would be really easy to say. But the men and women that work in way too many minds on way too many shifts can tell you what it feels like. And it's not worth the paycheck, it's not worth enduring that when no one else has to for the same amount of money. And in a lot shorter version, I dared to put that in a blog post. And holy moly, if someone had told me I'd spend the next five days deleting comments and blocking people. I might have thought twice. That's not true. I would have posted in any ways, but I had no idea that's what I was going to be doing. And for all you people that are about to criticize me for blocking deleting people, no. I have no desire to live in an echo chamber. I am committed to maintaining a safe space on my social media sites. My Facebook page is a safe, safe space. I have elders that follow me and I guarantee you they are never coming to my page and getting assaulted by some horrific comment that some person that doesn't know the facts decided to post. That's why I blocked delete. To maintain a safe space. So indigenous people can come to my page. They can comment, they can agree with what I have to say, or disagree for that matter, but they're never going to be attacked because there are way too many unsafe spaces for indigenous people in Canada and especially online. Me daring to share that blog post, Holy moly. The white supremacist sure didn't think I had the space or the right to complain. The comments were wide and varied. Over the next two days, this video, and in the next one, I'm going to share the two that stop me in my tracks. And most of them sad but true. I've heard them before. You can't be indigenous in Canada and not hear them. I've been hearing them for as long as I can remember. And there's a trigger warning here. If you're indigenous, you may not want to hear what comes next because it relates to the residential schools. And yeah, maybe you can already guess. All the comments said was they haven't found any bodies. Quit pushing false narratives. Wtf. Like, seriously, there are mainstream non indigenous people that have had the trauma of having their children taken, never to be found again. Are you gonna tell them that it's a false narrative because nobody's been found? I would think not. And guess what? I have met the survivors that went to the school with their siblings to come home with a sibling that never did. I have met the brothers who lost one of their own. I have met the sisters that came home without a sister or brother just because we haven't literally pulled bodies out of the ground. And I'm not even sure if the families would want that. There's a chance that where the children rest is where they want to keep them. But that's not my say. That's an individual decision by traumatized families. But sad but true, there are deniers in this country. I don't understand it. I'm not even sure they understand the residential schools existed. Our federal leadership stood in the house and admitted what was done. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission documented the children that didn't come home. The as many as they could. Their records were destroyed, burnt up, never created in so many cases. And then you're going to have the people, well, they just. They died of disease because of the conditions they were living in, because of the fact they were malnourished, because of the fact that the people looking after them, looking after them didn't actually care. So shut up. I can't think of something else to say. If a denier dares to say that in your vicinity, whether you're indigenous or not, I hope your automatic response is to tell them to shut the f up. Because that's trauma. That's an attack. And if we're ever going to reconcile, the attacks have to stop. I hope I was clear enough for you. This is ridiculous. And the fact that for me to fight for Canadian reconciliation means I have to endure those idiots. Let me be crystal clear. I only endure them once. Just long enough for me to block Delete Tomorrow. I have another comment I want to share with you. And this one. This one got me thinking. This one was, well, for when I had never been called that before. And two, like I said, I had to sit with that one for a while. I had to think about that one. And that's what I want you to do with my blog posts and videos. Even if you don't agree, sit with it. Think about it for a while. It may just take you to a whole new level of learning. Until tomorrow. I love you. Comment below. Don't attack, please, but feel free to comment. Until tomorrow. I love you. Take care. Bye bye.
