Sandi L. Boucher responds to an administrator who said job security matters more than advocating for Indigenous students. She argues that prioritizing your career over Indigenous lives perpetuates white supremacy and that educators must center Indigenous youth instead.
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So do you ever hear a comment from someone and it just stops you in your tracks and you're not sure why and it's a while later that you realize why that bothered you so much that you've gone through that unpacking and now you understand that's what we're talking about in this video. Mishko Paganon Kwei nadishnikasmang Dodem. Hello everybody. I am Misko Paganon Kwe Sandy Boucher, Red Thunderbolt, woman of the Loon clan. I'm a proud member of Seine River first nation in Treaty 3 territory in Northern Ontario. And today we gotta talk because I don't know about you, I don't know where you work, I don't know where you hang out. But like in seminar, when I'm working especially with non indigenous people, and that's not because there's anything wrong with non indigenous people, especially because it's a cross cultural relationship. So when I'm in a First nations community, I tend to hear things that resonate with me, that make sense. But when I'm in working with non indigenous people, they may say things that catch me off guard or like tell me more I need to explain, right? And I'm certain if you're non indigenous, same thing the other way. If you're working with indigenous people, you might have to ask for clarification. So I feel like Taylor Swift here. I'm going to talk about one of my seminars like an ex boyfriend here and that's not fair. Guys talk about their ex girlfriends too. It's just we all know the reference, right? Anyways, anywho, get back on track here, Sandy. I did a seminar and we were talking about decolonizing education and how can we all own that the mainstream education education system does not work for indigenous kids. And before you say it, yeah, it doesn't work for a lot of kids. Indigenous center. Let's keep this indigenous centered on this channel. So. So it doesn't work for indigenous kids. And we were talking about like pre contact education and what did work for us and how we could change things. And I was working with a lot of education administrators and the comment that caught me off guard was well, there's only, we can only do so much. We have a very small school district, the budget is really super small and if I push back too much I could lose my job. By the way, the full blog post is below before I forget. And something about that comment just, you know, caught me off guard. But of course I'm, I'm Facilitating a seminar. So I conversed with her, made a couple comments that the seminar continued. I thought it was over, but it was one of those comments that kind of sit with you for a while. And it wasn't until the next morning so I actually drove home like four hours. Excuse me. And it was the next morning while I was making my coffee. Ever have a thought just pop into your head and you wonder like, whoa. Well, suddenly the thought that popped into my head was, well, I wonder if the administrators in the residential schools ever said that. No, I don't agree with what's happening, but we have a really small budget and if I push back too hard, I'll lose my job. How's that for changing the perspective? I'm gonna be lightning bolt, red thunderbolt woman blunt here. I don't care two beings if a non indigenous person loses their job for pushing back. If it means one more indigenous youth doesn't die, die at the hands, their own hands or just die, their spirit gives up and they were lost them to the streets or addictions because they didn't fit in the non indigenous bodies box. If you are honestly saying you're there to help indigenous youth, it cannot be there about your job. That is you centered, not them centered. And can you tell with 59 is coming a whole lot of bluntness? Because come on, what is more important if you are there to keep your job, you are a problem. You are stepping in the way of the changes we need. Own that. Get the T shirt, send out the business cards. Because other people need to know you are not an ally. If you honestly are going to put your job before a life, an indigenous life that's white supremacy to the nines. You honestly think your paycheck is worth more than life? I'm sorry for your inconvenience. Losing a life is so much more important. So there's my rant for the day. That comment is going to stay with me and be shared often, obviously, because that has to change. Let's not make it you centered. It's about to make indigenous. We need. It's about time. We need to make indigenous solutions. Indigenous centered. It just makes sense until tomorrow. Oh, I got a surprise for you tomorrow. Okay, I love you. Take care.
Bye bye again, you amazing person, you. Sandy Boucher, once again cutting in on my own video to tell you all about my brand new all inclusive membership program. And seriously, if you like any part of my work, well, whether it's the blog posts and my writing style, my seminars, my speeches, my courses, you are going to want to be part of this. I mean, look at everything it includes. It includes my 2023 blog post that I'm reviewing in this video. It includes all of the blog posts from 2022 that you can't get anywhere else. And the best part, look at this.
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You get to read whichever one you want in whatever order you want based on the day, based on the title. It's totally up to you. You check it off as read and come back as often as you want. Talk about honoring your path and you doing this your way. On top of that, the entire 52 steps to reconciliation video set is available in the membership. Again, the only place you can find it. And again, watch it in whatever order you want to. There's courses the path, the path away from lateral violence, missing pieces, and even a day that can change everything. That includes so many of the teachings that I live my life by. And if something comes up in your workplace, maybe you need to bop into one of my courses to review one of the lessons again. Watch them in the order that you need. And there's PDFs for you to download. This is everything I've got and it gets updated on a regular basis and it doesn't affect how much you pay. So how much do you pay? Well, $19 a month. That's a lot of content for $19 a month there when you need it at your fingertips. Or pay the annual rate and you save any more, even more. And if you want it for your staff or group, well, I have a price for that too. I am here to support you in any way I can and this membership fits the bill. I can't wait to see you in the all inclusive membership. Now back to the video.
