Sandi L Boucher explains why the word "tribe" bothers her when white groups use it to describe themselves while excluding Indigenous people. She sees it as appropriation without inclusion, a barrier to real reconciliation.
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So you know that whole kerfuffle that I shared in my community here on YouTube, that whole email about. Do you know that some Christians could be upset when you use the word crucified? Just saying. And I'm paraphrasing again just in case. Never mind, never mind that. But so that person or that word off of obviously triggered that person. We're going to talk about my opinion on triggering in a second. But there is one word that burns my butt where I could relate to that reaction. And every time I see it, largely because of who's using it, I definitely have a reaction. So today I thought, let's talk about it. Bonjour, Mishko Poganon, Queen edition of Cosmono Damage. Hi everybody. My name is Andy 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, Canada. And today we're talking about words that burn people's butts. And first I said I wanted to touch on triggers. So as if you saw that whole kerfuffle in my community based on an email I received and then block delete that person so they get a new email so they can still email me. And it just a thing. Now they're trying to say they didn't have an issue with the word crucified, but they felt the need to point out that when I used the word, a whole bunch of Christians could be offended. Okay, to each his own. Here's when I think about triggering because obviously that person was triggered. Triggering is not an invitation to try to control someone else's behavior. Triggering is a heads up, a flashing light to tell you there's some area that you have to heal why you're being triggered. And I do realize that because there's a word that triggers me, I need to look at this more. And actually what I think I need to do is, is educate people more. So I'm still trying to change their behavior and it's actually not the behavior of using the word that I want to change. Interesting. Interesting. Okay, so what's the word? Any guesses? Any guesses? It only became popular in the last couple years and it's not as popular as it was, which my blood pressure is incredibly thankful for. The word is tribe. Find your tribe when you're with your tribe. Like things just resonate differently when you're with your tribe. And the whole bit that bothers me so much. So a couple of reasons, excuse the expression, but it's always a white chick Saying it or sharing the meme. It is always a group of white women that are being referred to as a tribe. I haven't even heard it used by a. Like a diverse group. Well, here's what bothers me. You want to call your group a tribe, yet you have nothing to do with the original tribes, the real tribes of indigenous people. Now, tribe is a word. Hit my mic again and guess every video I'm going to do this now. Gave up yawning. I'm now going to beat up my mic. Tribe is a word used in the U.S. in Canada, it's First Nations. I hear the word used here and I have a problem with, like, don't. That's like calling yourself indigenous. Don't use the word if you can't include the people, if nothing in your social circle, your professional circle, whatever, in the people you choose to hang with. None of them come from a tribe. Why are you naming your group a tribe? It's like just appropriating another word, and that word is not ours. So I'm stretching the definition of appropriating, but do you see what I mean? Like, like, are you going to wear little feathers and headdresses next? Like, that would be absolutely disgusting. You want to be a tribe? Then you should look at the people who are members of a tribe. You should include people that are members of a tribe and they will tell you that it's whole much, so much more than just a group of people you resonate with. It might be a group of people you don't even resonate with. There's a whole bunch of issues and whatever, but you're still a member of that tribe. I just think it's privilege screaming from the rooftops when people use it. And it just. It just highlights for me. It's like, are there any indigenous people in that group? Wow. I don't even see any people of color. Like, what the what? So I wrote on my card here, I'm just looking what my notes were because this was burning my butt the other day. So I wrote this card, says my rule. If you ain't going to include. Nice English, Sandy. If you ain't going to include the legit tribe members, you have no business using the word. So here's the guiding principle or whatever. Don't include the word in your vocabulary if you don't include the people in your life. I think that's pretty straightforward. Don't include the word in your vocabulary if you don't include the people in your life. So I said that Being triggered by this inspires me to want to do more work. And it's educating the people on the use of that word. Like, you don't get to rename your cute little. It's like those people inspired. They want to learn how to do beadwork and learn how to drum because it looks really cool when indigenous people do it. But they never include Indigenous people. They just want to appropriate. And that's what this word. That's how it sits with me. That's how it hits me, is this is more appropriation without inclusion. And. And we're gonna get better. What did I write down here? Don't include the word in your vocabulary if you don't include tribal people in your life, period. And if you don't like that, get off my page. I was being really blunt, obviously. But seriously, doesn't that make sense? It just. If mainstream non indigenous white people started wearing a lot of indigenous beat, learning how to do beadwork and wearing a bunch of beadwork, even learning our languages and speaking our languages and never included us, nothing would change. It would probably hurt indigenous people even more. So think twice about the words you use. And I know for privileged people, that's a new thing. As Indigenous, we've had to watch what words we use on a regular basis because the backlash is huge. There are very few people, compared to the size of the population, very few indigenous people who comfortably speak out about our worldview because we know the backlash. Like, how dare an indigenous person use the word crucified? Right. So it goes both ways. And part of reconciliation is realizing for non Indigenous people to realize that what you've been doing causes harm and you can't reconcile with the people that you are still hurting. So stop it. A shorter video today, but with a. A stronger, strong, strong point. And I hope that resonates with you because we need to stop that, please. Does that make sense? I'd love to see your comments. Until tomorrow. I love you. Take care. Bye. Bye.
