Sandi L Boucher, of the Loon clan and Seine River First Nation, says the best way to encourage Indigenous pride is simple: be proud of your own culture first. Ask respectful questions, share your traditions, and make space for real exchange instead of pretending to have answers.
Questions this video answers
August 15, 2023
Sandi L Boucher (Red Thunderbolt); woman of the Loon clan, member of Seine River First Nation in Treaty 3 territory, Northern Ontario.
Chapters
I get asked all the time, what can I do as a non indigenous person to help Indigenous people be more proud of their cultures and traditions? Well, I'm going to give you an answer today, and it's probably not what you think the answer is going to be. Let's talk about it. Hello, everybody, it's Sandy Boucher here once again. 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 like I said in the intro, I get asked all the time. I meet so many non indigenous people, heart in the right place, they want to help out. They see youth or women or whoever the community members are, they see our people struggling and they ask, what can I do to help? What can I do to increase the cultural pride of the indigenous people I'm working with now? As you can well imagine, that could turn into a very long, complicated, convoluted answer. And the answer I give is actually really simple. Which reminds me of my mom who always said, wisdom is simple. We make things complicated. The answer, be proud of your culture. Tell us about your culture. Tell us about what you celebrate. Ask us if we think that's silly or if we celebrate something that sounds similar. By being proud of you and your culture, you create the space for us to do same. And the best part, I see so many non indigenous people putting so much pressure on themselves. They have to have the right answers all the time and they stress right out. And honestly, most often, you don't need an answer to build the bridge. You need to ask a respectful question or you need to share who you are and be transparent and authentic. And in all of those cases, you know that stuff. You know your culture, you know your traditions, you know who you are, you know your intent. Come to the bridge with that knowledge and we can totally work together. So the next time you want to increase some cultural pride for Indigenous people, share your cultural pride. Let's see how much we have in common. Maybe we'll find out some really cool differences. I don't need to believe the same as you to respect what you believe. And I hope you can say the same. I hope that made sense. Comment below. I would love to hear what you think of that incredibly wise, yet simplistic answer. Have you tried it? Did it work for you? Let me know until tomorrow. I love you. Take care. Bye bye.
