Sandi L Boucher (also known as Red Thunderbolt), a member of the Loon clan from Seine River First Nation (Treaty 3 territory), explains the meaning and origin of her first tattoo in this personal YouTube video. She describes the tattoo visually (a large red thunderbolt with a loon taking flight) and interprets its elements through the medicine wheel framework: eagle feathers placed to represent elders and children (including a daughter lost to SIDS), and four beads in the medicine-wheel colors symbolizing bringing teachings together. She says she got the tattoo in her mid-40s within a couple years after her mother died; its size and bicep placement intentionally make her identity and strength visible and unhideable, and the tattoo continues to serve as a healing reminder.
Questions this video answers
Red Thunderbolt; Loon clan
Seine River First Nation in Treaty 3 territory, Northern Ontario
She says she was in her mid-40s when she got her first tattoo and that it came within a couple of years after her mother passed away.
A large red thunderbolt (her namesake), a loon in flight, eagle feathers (some falling, some strong), and beads in black, yellow, red, and white.
Two small falling eagle feathers in the north represent her parents (passed on); two strong eagle feathers plus a small falling feather in the south represent her children and a daughter lost to SIDS.
Chapters
We have one more video to do this week, and as I promised yesterday, it's a different kind of video because a whole bunch of you have been asking me about my tattoo, why it's so huge, why I always dress to show it off, and why is it the logo for my company? Well, let's talk about it. 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 Treaty 3 territory in Northern Ontario. And yes, today we are discussing my tattoo, the first of my tattoos. I have a few others. We don't need to talk about those. But people have asked me, like, they see it, and it's like, okay, there's a story there. I don't know if it's obvious to you, but that's definitely the comment I hear all the time. So because you kept asking, I keep getting the emails. I thought I would take the time to share that with you. It's a story I enjoy sharing, so I don't mind at all. But to make this a little bit easier for you, I'm going to do a split screen with a picture, an old picture of me that shows off the tattoo so you can follow along a little bit easier. So first and foremost, you should know that getting this tattoo was a huge part of my healing after I lost my mom, Honorary India, my first book. And the tattoo came out about the same time, and that was in within a couple of years of my mom passing away. So I was, like, mid-40s when I got my first tattoo. And, no, that was not a midlife crisis for those who want to go there. So to describe the image, first and foremost, you can see the main part of the image is a huge red thunderbolt. I am Red Thunderbolt woman. So this tattoo is literally my namesake. And then on top of the lightning bolt, you're going to see a loon. I'm a proud member of the loon clan, the speakers of the community. But when I knew I wanted the loon on my tattoo, and, yes, I designed this, I looked around for images, and every image I found of a loon was them sitting peacefully on the water. Have you ever seen a loon take off? Like, they are not sitting passively on top of that? Almost John on top of that. I'm not passive, so I definitely didn't want just the loon sitting there. So in my tattoo, the loon is taking flight. It's in action, which is totally me. Now, to understand the next parts of my tattoo, you got to think of the medicine wheel teachings. Put up an image of that for a second. And the four life stage, the medicine wheel starts in the east, where the sun rises. That's the baby stage. To the south is the youth stage. To the west is the adult stage. To the north is the elder stage. On my tattoo. To the north, the land of the elders, are two small falling eagle feathers. Now, eagle feathers are one of the most sacred items to Anishinaabe people. The feathers are small to represent the distance to spirit world. They're falling because both my parents have passed on to the bottom of the tattoo. In the land of the youth are two strong, beautiful eagle feathers and a small falling eagle feather beside them. The two strong feathers represent my children. The small falling eagle feather represents the daughter and lost to Sids. And on both sides of the tattoo are four beads, black, yellow, red, and white. The colors of the medicine wheel, the colors of man. We are told that when we come together and share our teachings, that's when we bring the world together. And that is literally the work I do. Now, that's the image of the tattoo, but the size and the location are just as important. You see, my mom, when she was alive, there was two things she always told me. You don't realize how strong you are. Never forget how strong you are. And no matter where you stand or who you stand beside, don't forget who you are. I got the tattoo huge, so it's almost physically impossible to hide who I am. And I got it on my bicep to remind me of how strong I am. And I can honestly say all these years later, next year is going to be 20 years since my mom passed away. That's hard for me to even imagine, but the tattoo is still doing its work. Every time I pass by a mirror or window, it makes me smile. It's a reminder of who I am and how strong I am and whose daughter I am. So thank you so much for asking to hear the story. I love sharing it. It's been a while since I shared it, so thank you so much. And I hope you. I hope you enjoyed the story, and I hope you have something in your life that reminds you who you are. It may. It doesn't have to be a tattoo. Maybe it's a special necklace or a bracelet or, you know, something you inherited. Whatever the case may be, if you do have something like that and you don't mind sharing, I'd love to hear your story, share it in the comments, but I think for our sakes, I mean, as we grow on, go on and grow and, you know, get out a few years under our belt, we realize that it is really easy to forget who you are. Especially when you start standing near someone new. I think we could all benefit from having some something remind us of how strong we are and just who we are. Not the lesser version someone else painted for us, but the version creator designed us to be. Even if we haven't lived up to it yet. So I hope you have something like that. If not, go find something until next week. I love you. Take care. Bye. Bye.
