Sandi L. Boucher (Anishinaabe Kwe, Red Thunderbolt, Loon clan, Seine River First Nation) reflects on a special Indigenous courtroom in Thunder Bay set aside for the Indigenous Alternative Justice Program and the Indigenous People's Court. She describes the round courtroom with circular desks and space for a traditional healing circle and initially felt that ceremony in a courthouse was out of place. Over time she changed her view, seeing healing and smudging ceremonies in that setting as a form of decolonization and cultural reclamation—bringing Indigenous practices into the place where people at risk of being lost to the colonial justice system can be reached. She closes with a call for allies to give space and time for Indigenous authenticity and with usual YouTube sign-offs (subscribe/share).
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I don't know if this happens for you, if you happen to be non indigenous, but I know it is definitely something that has been part of my life as Anishinaabe Kwe. And what I'm referring to is things that happen that I never thought would happen. For example, when the official apology took place in the House of Commons, Phil Fontaine was the National Chief of the assembly of first nations at that time. To see him standing in the House of Parliament in his headdress stopped me in my tracks. It was just something I never thought I would see. And I know it's not anything my mom ever thought she would see. And she didn't get to see it. She didn't live that long. But there's something happening in the city I live in that again, is not only something I didn't think I'd see, but it's something that I've changed my interpretation of. That's what I want to talk to you about today. So let's talk about it. 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. What you may not be aware of is I live in the city of Thunder Bay, a city known for its anti Indigenous racism. And in our city we have this brand new courthouse that I swear towers over everything in the area, or at least seems to. And that has always been unnerving to me because the area of the city it's located in is known for its houseless, impoverished people. And most of those people are Indigenous. So I swear this courthouse is standing there like Big Brother, overlooking the neighborhood. But inside that courthouse is a special courtroom and it's been set aside for the Indigenous Alternative Justice Program as well as the Indigenous People's Court. So I'm going to try to describe this for you and hopefully you're able to picture it. It's a round room, but it is a courtroom, which means when they have hearings in there, they need people and they need desks and they need. And they need to be able to record it. But the desks in the room are rounded too. So they actually form a circle inside of the circle that is the room. What is even more important is in the very middle, before you get to the desks, there's enough space to hold the healing circle, to have people sit together in a circle in the traditional Anishinaabe way. Now, I gotta admit, when they first built this courthouse and they first set up this room, I Didn't like the idea of a healing circle there. I didn't like the idea of our medicines and smudging in this room. It felt like a courthouse to me. And our ceremonies felt totally out of place. But time has passed since the courthouse was built. I have changed. My wisdom and knowledge have grown. And now I know that when it comes to decolonizing indigenous people are trying to reclaim their language in their culture in the middle of mainstream colonial insanity, then you have to do it in spite of the environment. And now when I think of that healing circle in the middle of a courtroom, I kind of think it's absolutely perfect because I'm going to be volunteering with the program that's going to be there helping people that are now finding themselves as part of the justice program. They're part of that system and we're going to try to help put them on a better path. They're going to try to face what they've done in the middle of mainstream colonial insanity. And I now believe that is the absolute perfect place for a healing circle and a smudging ceremony in the midst of the insanity, right where they're at the greatest risk of getting lost. I hope that picture worked for you. I hope you understand what I was trying to say, and I hope you understand a little bit more. The Indigenous challenge every single day. We live in a colonialist society. We live in a society that very much every single day is trying to force us to assimilate us. Being different is often seen as horribly inconvenient for non indigenous people. We're not trying to be inconvenient. We're just trying to be who we are. We're just trying to be authentic. And what we need from our allies and our non indigenous counterparts is the space and time to do that, even in the middle of mainstream colonial insanity. I hope you enjoyed this week's videos. I'll be back next week with yet another round. Comment below. And as always, please, please. 1. Remember to subscribe. 2. If you're not yet at a place where you feel you can speak to these topics, then please help me to do that by sharing these videos. The more people I can reach, the faster we bring this country together. Enjoy your weekend. I love you. Take care. Bye bye.
