Teachings found in a Label (Tuesday Teaching)

Foreign. 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 Northern Ontario. And I'm here today with this week's Tuesday teaching. This week we're talking about the teaching for Found in a Label. I don't know about you, but if you ever grab something out of your fridge or out of your pantry, if you're lucky enough to have one, and you notice the best before date, and imagine in this scenario it the date, the best before date is today or yesterday. Does that change your desire to eat whatever you just reached for? I don't know about you, but for me it totally changes everything. All of a sudden it's like I have. I envision times when I have tasted the milk and it was no longer good, or taken a bite of a sandwich where the bread was no longer fresh. All of that seems to come to mind. And honestly, 90% of the time, I'm going to choose something else. That got me thinking about labels. And I've always been resistant to labels because for the most part, they seem so limiting. Even though it is often freeing to get a diagnosis if we're at a doctor's office. So we now know what we're dealing with when it comes to the areas of education. A label often comes with a long list of limitations. And I just don't believe that humans have the ability to define limitations. I have achieved many things that people told me I never would be able to do. My son and daughter have done same. So that is why I'm so, so hesitant with labels. But this morning I realized that not only is a label important, not only does it come with tremendous power, but it also matters who's saying it, who's assigning the label. For example, I am Anishinaabe Kwe. I am an Ojibwe woman, a proud Ojibwe woman. For me to say that invokes power and resilience and everything that I am proud of about the woman that I am, it invokes memories of my mom and my grandmother and ancestors and cousins and my children and powwow and teachings and elders and all of this warm, fuzzy stuff. When one of my elders or another Anishinaabe friend refers to me as indigenous or Anishinaabe or Ojibwe or quay or nish or any of the words we use to reference each other, that too invokes warm feelings of community, friendship, acceptance, not being alone. All of that is warm, fuzzy stuff. But when it's said by a non indigenous person. That's when, once again, it all depends on the relationship. Because so often when someone defines me as an indigenous speaker or an indigenous consultant, it's like they all of a sudden it's the box again. It's limitations. It's she has knowledge in this area. And of course that's their interpretation. And once again, as has happened throughout colonial history, it's a misinterpretation. So I want you to consider that today. And actually, I want you to do me a favor. If you have to use a label, make sure it's a positive one. Do not use any labels today that define and limit the potential of the human standing in front of you or on the other end of that text or email. If there's one thing I believe we really need to get better at is empowering each other and allowing space for every single person to fly in their own unique way. When I think back to all the years when I struggled under the weight of a label assigned to me by someone else, it just makes me appreciate this world in this time when I decide my labels. So I guess that's a great way to end. What label are you wearing and is it empowering? That's my teaching for this week. I hope that resonated with you. Until next week. I love you. Talk to you soon. Bye. Bye.