Misplaced Non Violent Resistance

In case you weren't aware, there are three natural human reactions to either long term oppression or internalized oppression. And two of them, they bring with them a high price tag. The third one is amazing if it's applied properly. That's what we need to talk about today. So let's talk about it. Sam. Bonjour. 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 today I'm talking about the September 6 blog post which was called Misplaced Non violent Resistance. All of a sudden my voice disappeared. Hang on, hang on. Much better, I hope. Okay, so to give you some backstory here, I mentioned in the opening of this video that there are three natural human reactions to long term or internalized oppression. The first, violence in all of its forms. We're talking bullying, gossiping, domestic violence, elder abuse, the whole nine yards. If someone keeps telling you over and over that you're less than that you're not worth anything, that you're never going to amount to anything, that you're a drain on the public coffers, at some point you're going to lash out the problem. It is really hard to hit the federal government in the nose, and that's who the oppressor is. So you lash out to the people closest to you. Your partner, your children, your community members are the people in the nearby municipality. Not ideal, but understandable. That's called frustration. That's called reacting to oppression the second way. Now, honestly, a lot of people have a serious problem with violence, and I totally get it. But as an indigenous woman, it's the second one that scares me even more. And that's because the second natural human reaction to oppression is acquiescence, the complete and total giving up, the not bothering. And you recognize these people because they say things like, why should I bother going to school? It's not going to help anyways. Why should I bother sending my kids to school? It didn't help me, it's not going to help them. Why bother getting a job or getting educated? Canada is never going to look at me as anything more than less than. That's the voice of acquiescence. And it's a natural human reaction to the environment. Not speaking about the person, but the environment. There's a third natural human reaction, and that's non violent resistance. When an indigenous young man or woman graduates from high school, that is nonviolent resistance. When they dare to go away to post secondary, they Dare to dance at powwow. They dare to learn their language. They dare to learn their traditions, their, you know, wild rice, harvesting and hunting and fishing. Anything that other people said we couldn't do. That's nonviolent resistance. But here's the problem. I run into a lot of people, Indigenous, non indigenous. They want to feel like they're in control of their lives. I think we all want to feel that. But when you're an oppressed person, sometimes feeling like you're in control of your life can actually be harmful to your future. Maybe you don't want to go to bed at a reasonable time because you're an adult now and no one's going to tell you what to do, but it means you're half asleep at school or at work the next day. Maybe that means you end up failing a test or getting fired. That's not nonviolent resistance. School is. That job could be the key to your financial security, meaning that money in the bank gives you that freedom you want. So what I'm saying to my indigenous family, friends and followers today is choose carefully what you stand up against. Make sure it's not you. Because if it helps the oppressor, if it helps keep you down and not succeeding and achieving your dreams, not theirs, yours. That's not nonviolent resistance. Dare to succeed. Dare to be proud. Dare to be indigenous and successful on your terms. That is nonviolent resistance. And I'd be the first to celebrate your success with you. Until tomorrow. I love you. Take care. Bye Bye.