Reconciliation Performance Indicators & How Rich I Would Like Indigenous Peoples to Be

Hello, you absolutely amazing person here. I have a variety information for you today. Four different index cards. Four things that I believe are either gonna help you understand what the world Canada, a conversation looks like through indigenous eyes or actually help you advance on your own reconciliation journey. So I got lots to share. Let's talk about it. Boju Mishka Paganong Kwei Nadishnikas Mung Dodem. Hi everyone, 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 as I promised, I got a whole bunch of stuff to share with you. Just things that have popped up in my world that made me think of you. Things that I think might help you increase your understanding or help you understand what you see when you see something on the news or see something happen in your local indigenous community. So first off, we got to take care of some business. The first thing I want to talk about is actually the sale I have running right now. You know, I hope you know that I have my all inclusive membership. So basically anything I do, if it's recorded or in some way a video, it's written, whatever, it lands in my membership. So 2022 blog posts are there. Can't find those anywhere else. 2023 blog posts are there. The exciting thing, as of yesterday, all of my four books are in the membership for you to read. If you go monthly, the membership costs you $19 a month. You can't even buy a book for $19 anymore. And the exciting part is if you buy it and pay annually rather than monthly, the annual price is on sale right now, which I think at regular price it was around 16amonth. I don't even know what it works out to with the sale price. Check it out. There's new seminars coming to the membership. There's always new things being added to the membership. But I'm really excited that the books are there now. You can no longer buy the books off my website, but you can buy them on Amazon CA if you're not interested in the membership, which I don't know why you wouldn't be, but. But some people just want one specific video course. The Path Away from Lateral Violence is super popular with First Nation audiences. The path to reconciliation. A day that can change everything. Those are some of my video courses purchasing for you personally. That price is on sale right now. There's always a reduction if you want to buy it for a group, you have to contact us to get the group rate. It Depends how big your staff or team is. I think that's everything as far as business stuff. The sale only lasts until December 31st. We're finishing off 2024 strong. Then they go back to the regular price come January 1st, which is still a great deal. So that's number one out of the way. Next, I am reading the book. Can't see it in the background. You know this. I mentioned it in other videos. We should all be Millionaires by Rachel Rogers. Not reading it as fast as I'd like to be, but it's because it's so impactful. It's not because it's boring. It's not because I'm not interested. But seriously, I read two pages and have to go act on something she says. In fact, she encouraged in the last couple pages I read creating a network of other ambitious, driven women so that we have a safe space to be those strong driven women. And I literally put the book down and did that. I now have four other amazing women in the group with me. If you'd be interested in being one of the badass broads, send me an email. Send me an email and I'll give you info. You have to be ambitious, you have to be driven. You have to be looking for the positive safe space. This is not a get together and complain about things. This is. I have a challenge. Give me some insight, guys. Have you ever faced it? How did you get past it? And just really just a place to celebrate successes. So if you're interested in that. That was a bonus. That is not on my index cards. But the other thing that the book inspired for me, you got to have a goal. You got to have the target. You can't hit a target if you don't know what the target is. So I started playing with the how rich do you want to be? Right? Because I like the word rich. I come from an impoverished background. I have sold furniture for food. So don't even, don't even what the size of my bank account is up to me. But that quickly because I am Anishinaabe Kwei and we have that community mindset that I started thinking how rich would I like indigenous people to be? And you may be surprised at the answer I came up with. It will not be surprising for any indigenous person watching this other marginalized people might think relate as well. So I'm just gonna read off from a index card what I wrote down. How rich do I want indigenous to be? Rich enough so we don't have to endure. Rich enough to quit that Job that is killing our soul. That environment where we gotta listen to the jokes that aren't funny. The toxic culture that is not welcoming for indigenous. Rich enough to quit and be able to find something else. Rich enough to shop somewhere else if you're enduring those kind of comments there too. Rich enough to travel to get respectful service. If I need to go to the other next town to get an optometrist or to get a doctor or to get whatever that is going to be respectful of me. Rich enough to be able to do that. Rich enough for health, dental and mental health services even if I have to pay out of pocket. Rich enough to travel, period. For fun, for learning, for expanding. Your being rich enough not to worry about paying for necessities. Can I be any more clear? Poverty is not indigenous culture. Poverty is just the environment we have lived in for too long. All of that energy you are expending, worrying about how you're going to pay the rent, how you're paying the mortgage, how you're paying your car payment or your car insurance, how you're buying groceries, all of that energy could be better used with you honoring yourself. So I want you to be rich enough that you never have to worry about those things and rich enough so you're not dependent on anyone or any in entity for income. Because I see way too many of our people dependent on social assistance. Now I know in a lot of cases these people are hurting and they need healing, support and services. We need to get it to them so that they can live a different life, a better life, a financially stable life. Because the reality is, as an indigenous woman, I don't see the government as my friend and I don't see social assistance as steady income. We got the conservatives coming in, cuts could happen. So do whatever you can, do your bead work, do your guiding, do whatever you can to earn your income. Because depending on someone else to make sure you have food on the table is scary afraid. Bottom line, all I want is you. Rich enough. So how's that for number two? On to the next. Okay, totally different mindset. Now, this is aimed more at the non indigenous people that follow my work, especially those in business, those trying to do some kind of reconciliation work. What I've come up with are some benchmarks, some performance indicators that in my opinion you should aim for. So I was doing a seminar a couple months ago and some individual in the audience made a comment, something along the lines of, well, is it all? Is everything we do supposed to involve reconciliation? Now what he didn't realize is there was an indigenous woman sitting at his table and yeah, she found that incredibly hurtful. So, by the way, a lot of indigenous people look like me incognito Indians. So we got your number because we hear those things you're saying when you don't think indigenous are around. So. And yes, we talk. Moccasin telegraph is a thing. We spread the word. So if you're not wondering why you didn't, if you're wondering why you didn't get that contract, maybe you got to find out what your managers have been saying behind when they're out of the office. Just saying that is not one of the benchmarks or performance indicators, but it could be one of the things that stops you from reaching these things. So does reconciliation have to be part of everything? Well, yes, to a certain degree. So here's what I'm suggesting, and this is my suggestion alone. Say, for example, you live in a city or municipality or your business operates provincially. The first thing you have to do is find out what percent of the population for your community, municipality or province is. So say, for example, and I'm just pulling numbers out of the air now. I did not look this up. I probably shouldn't look this up. But say, for example, you operate in the province of Alberta, okay? And 22% of the population in Alberta is indigenous. That's the number you need to meet in all of these benchmark performance indicators. The 22%. Did I say 22? Let's go with 22. So let's say 22% of the population. So I'm going to list off. There's 10 benchmarks or performance indicators you can use. And honestly, I would advise non indigenous businesses I'm working with, if you're hitting these indicators or you've even set them, you need to be promoting that and telling the public that you deserve the kudos and the business for having done this work. Don't keep it a secret. We need to know you're trying and you're hitting these benchmarks. So the magic number is 22%. We're pretending that you're in Alberta and you work provincially, so that's the number you would use. I don't know if that's the accurate percentage. I just pulled that out of the year. The first benchmark or performance indicator is your customer base. 22% is the magic number. So are 22% of your customers minimum, 22% or more of your customers indigenous? If you can say yes to that, I would say you're hitting that benchmark or performance indicator. Kudos to you. Okay, so we're not talking. You're only working with indigenous people. But make sure you're living up. I think the percent of population is a really good start. Measuring. Measuring stick. That's what I wanted. The next one, you have your number of customers, but the next one's your sales revenue. So is 22% of your sales revenue coming from indigenous consumers, Indigenous communities, Indigenous entities? Yes or no? Because. And I can think of a lot of non indigenous businesses. It's a lot higher than that. But you should be promoting that. Don't keep that a secret. The next one. Now this is a big one. Staffing is 22% of your staff indigenous. And this is where we got to be careful because this is where you see things. Like I mentioned it in yesterday's video, in fact, the Indian in the cupboard mentality, that you hire the indigenous person to be your spokesperson with indigenous communities, but when they're in the office, they're in their little cubicle or office, you only bring them out to talk about indigenous issues and then put them back in and they have no say or they're not involved in the general discussion, discussions or the decisions of the company. And if you make a decision that's detrimental to indigenous communities, they're the ones that are going to have be tasked with telling the indigenous communities the bad news. It's called the Indian in the cupboard. The office representing the cupboard and the turnover and burnout of people, Indigenous people in that position is ridiculous. If that's what you discover the job is to all the indigenous people watching, get out. For your sake, for your well being. Destroying yourself mentally, spiritually, physically, emotionally for a paycheck is ridiculous, right? And no hard pass. Don't do that to yourself. But I heard another phrase yesterday that I was like, whoa, that's even better than Indian in the cupboard. Are you ready for this? Are you ready? What those companies are doing by hiring that one indigenous person as a spokesperson, they're buying a feather. Look at me, I got an ego feather. Look at me, I have an indigenous staff person. If that doesn't ring as incredibly negative to you, you need to do some educating. So when it comes to your staff, 22% of in this scenario should be indigenous and not just buying a feather. Let's make sure that their voices are heard. Which brings me to the next one. Is staff by level or tier? If all of your indigenous employees are entry level and they're never management or senior management or above, there's a problem. There's a problem. So you got to look at that. And, and this is an assessment. So if you get a low number, it's not about beating yourself up. It's about, this is where we're starting. We got to improve this number. The next one. Your training that you do for your staff, 22% of your training should have something to do with cultural sensitivity, Indigenous knowledge reconciliation, whatever the case may be. So look at the training you're offering and not, please, not just on June 21st and September 30th. Ick. Yeah, that's performative that I have an issue with the next one. And it really ties into the. What I had just said about the Indian in the cupboard. Looking at your retention or turnover in Indian Indigenous staff, it as compared to your turnover with other staff. If you're, you're hiring Indigenous and they're not staying, something's wrong with your environment. Don't be pointing fingers and blaming the Indigenous person for not being ambitious enough or being lazy or whatever. There's something in the environment. Remember the feather teaching? One side represents you, the other would represent the Indigenous employees. The powers on your side of the feather pointing fingers and saying it's someone else's fault, that does nothing. If Indigenous people are not staying in your entity or business, I can tell you right now there's a reason for it and it's not because they're problematic. There's something problematic about your environment and you definitely should consult with some Indigenous to figure that out because it might be that blind spot, back to back teaching something you can't see, see, but you're paying the price. You are literally being harmed by not realizing what the problem is. Find out what the problem is. Number seven, any supported activities. So often entities, businesses support different local activities. They might sponsor a sports team or they might be a sponsor of an event. Make sure 22% of your sport sponsorships are indigenous focused. 8. Advertising. Okay, so one of the problems, biggest challenges with reconciliation, and I mentioned this in an email to someone this morning, is that Canada being raised in Canada, it tends to be Canadian focused. Right? And that was the problem for so long. Non Indigenous people figured, well, if this program works for us, it works for everyone. It doesn't. It totally doesn't. So your advertising, putting out an ad, I'm saying 22% of your advertising budget should be targeting Indigenous peoples. You're gonna phrase it different. The imagery is going to be different if you don't know how. Remember nothing for us or about us without Us get indigenous input into that before you waste your money running an ad that insults someone or misses the mark. Like Moccasin Telegraph is a thing. We're going to talk about it and it's going to hurt you. Not doing it is hurting you. Doing it badly is going to hurt you. Another one I wanted to throw in there is actually. Look at your personnel policies. The holidays. Do you respect and honor indigenous holidays? We all honor the Christian holidays, right? Easter and Christmas. But what if I don't do Christmas? What if June 21 and September 30 are the days that are important to me? What if I come from a community where our traditions are the annual hunting party and that's how I support my family? Do you allow leave for that? So you gotta find out what your your employees and it's not indigenous get More like, I'll work July 1st, no problem. But I'm getting June 21st off. Okay. So have the conversation. Last but not least, I hope that in some way, shape or form you're getting feedback or testimonials from your customer base. What are the testimonials like from indigenous people and are you getting any? And if you're not, seek those out. Okay. Or I highly suggest getting an indigenous person to ask for you because indigenous will tell indigenous the truth. They may not tell you depending on the level of relationship you have. So that's a lot. This is actually a luncheon learn that I offer to non indigenous entities. So if you wanted to hear more about that, you need to send me an email. That's number three. On to the last one. This one. You know I love quotes. If you've been on my channel for any length of time, you know I love me a good quote. I'm an author. That's not surprising. But every now and then a quote knocks me on my butt and it's like, yep, that's going into future seminars. Yep, I'm going to be sharing that. And that's what happened this morning. Okay. Also, no surprise, I was watching an Ed Mylet video. I watch one every single morning, so that's part of my motivational morning routine. But in this time of such divide, with the conservatives and the liberals at odds with each other, with enough indigenous and non indigenous at odds with each other, with so many groups at odds with each other, I'd be willing to bet you have either said or heard someone say, you have no idea what it's like to be me. Meaning you have no idea what my path is like, what I want you to do from now on is every single time you think that they have no idea what it's like to be me you have to add in the second sentence and what I mean by that is when you say they have no idea what it's like to be me and I have no idea what it's like to be them because when we make assumptions about the other side, when we paint them as 100% bad guy then we are burning any potential bridges. I'm not saying you're going to agree with them. Maybe when you ask them what their path is like it reinforces what you believe. But humility, teaching, if they don't know your path there is a hundred percent chance that you don't know theirs. And maybe, just maybe if we remember that we can come closer together. Or at least that's my goal. I hope that resonated with you. Until tomorrow. I love you. Take care. Bye Bye.