A short personal video by Sandi L Boucher reflecting on whether perceived mansplaining she experiences is actually part of a broader decolonization process. She connects her resistance to being told what to do — especially by men — with reclaiming Indigenous identity, values, and autonomy, and invites non-Indigenous people to respect Indigenous self-determination.
Chapters
So the question for today is, is it mansplaining or decolonization? Which one? Am I having a problem with the first or engaging in the second? What do you think? Hello again, everybody. It's Sandy Boucher here. Mishko Paganong Kwei Nadishnagas Mang Dodem. I am Red Thunderbolt, woman of the Loon clan, a proud member of Saint River First Nation in Treaty 3 Territory in Northern Ontario. And I'm shooting this video on my Saturday, which is why the AU Natural hair. We're totally going to ignore the mess on my desk, because I am. So I'm inviting you to do same. I've got so much on my engine this week, but we're here and we're going to do this. And today we're looking at the June 6 blog post. And what was it called? Well, it was called Interesting Revelation, but again, I think, is it mensplaining versus decolonization? So in this blog post, I'm talking about the fact that I'm single and I have been for a long time. And a large part of that is I have a serious problem with anybody. And, like, I tend to date men. So I'm talking about guys here, but trying to tell me what to do or say, or worse, what I can do or say. And that's long been an issue. And you start telling me how to run my life when we've met last Tuesday, that is not gonna fly. And if you think I'm overreacting, that is so freaking common, it's not even funny. And I don't know what it is. I don't know. I think some men have an issue with strong success, successful, empowered women. I'm not into, you know, calling people down or what. I'm a motivational speaker. That would be really ridiculous. I believe in people. I just like you. Especially the guys that want to tell me how to run my business, who have never run a business a day in their life. I wouldn't tell a truck driver how to drive a truck. So, like, what? Anyways, for the longest time, I was just like, you know what? I'm just not into that. And then I realized, wow, that's probably. And I'm putting this up there to you. What do you think? That is probably a lot to do with my decolonization process. The fact that as an Indigenous woman, I have been actively unpacking what I've been learned, what I was taught, what I learned about being Indigenous, what that meant, what I should desire, what values and ethics I should follow. And really consciously going back to my Indigenous roots and not following calendar celebrations and not doing things just because mainstream says I should. And that's when I realized, interesting. I don't want to do what mainstream says I should. And I don't want to do what the guy I'm dating says I should. Geez, I wonder how interrelated that is. I think for, and this is just my honest opinion, I think for Anishinaabe or any Indigenous person, we just finally want the space to be ourselves. And I've started sharing this with my audiences and my reconciliation work. One of the things we really need non Indigenous Canadians to understand is we do not want to be like you. And that's not because there's anything wrong with you. It's because there's nothing wrong with us either. Do we have trauma and things to heal with? Yes. That's thanks to Canada. What you see in our First Nation communities is a reaction to the oppression we're healing from. When a flower doesn't bloom, you change the environment in which it grows, not the flower. We're trying desperately to change that environment. If you could help with that, that would be amazing. So I guess I'm just putting it out there for one. Especially if you're female, because female are another oppressed group. What do you think? Are you down with people telling you what to do? People of the male persuasion or whoever you happen to be dating? And if you're non Indigenous working with Indigenous people, maybe make sure to stop yourself before you cross that line telling us what to do, especially in our own communities, or in my case, my own home. Not cool. So not cool. Burning bridges, not building them. I hope that made sense. Blog post is below. Let me know what you think about the blog post or what I said in this video. I would love to hear and thank you for ignoring the mess in my office until tomorrow. I. I love you. Take care. Bye. Bye.
