A Conversation with Indigenous Author Sandi Boucher

By Nea Maaty & Adonis Huggins
(Nea and Adonis are journalists with the Focus Media Arts Centre, funded by the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative).

Agencies serving the Indigenous community in Toronto estimate that there are 70,000 residents living in Toronto.   Many indigenous habitants reside in the downtown, low-income neighbourhoods of Regent Park, Moss Park and St. James Town.  However, far too often Indigenous residents are invisible and only reflected in issues related to homelessness. In an effort to change this Focus Media Arts is partnering with indigenous community groups and individuals to bring you The Fire Within ~ a show committed to bringing you news and stories on Indigenous communities in the downtown east and City of Toronto.

Sandi Boucher is an Indigenous author, story teller, social activist, and motivational speaker who identifies herself as a Red Thunderbolt woman of the Moon Clan, and a proud member of Seine River First Nation located in Northwestern Ontario.

Sandi feels that her role in life is to empower people by increasing their awareness of their own capacity, their gifts, and by renewing their belief in themselves.

Sandi begins her story by talking about her childhood as the daughter of loving and respectful parents. Sandi’s father was French and her mother was Indigenous. The loss of her father at the age of 17 affected her greatly. According to Sandi, her father was someone who at a young age gave her the confidence to believe that she could be whoever she wants to be. However, that began to change when she saw how her mother was treated differently when they were alone. This led her to awareness of how Indigenous women are discriminated against.

With the loss of her father, Sandi began to lose her self-confidence and got caught up in an abusive relationship, which Sandi feels is not unusual to Indigenous young women often as a result of generational trauma. After several years of violence, Sandi found the strength to leave the relationship with her two children and begin the process of healing.

Sandi’s mother was instrumental to this healing. According to Sandi, her mom was an amazing Indigenous woman who was wise, full of stories and gave her so much power and strength. The other thing that was instrumental to her healing was her passion for writing. Sandi didn’t know she would become author but diaries were always part of her life. “Writing has always been how I made sense of my world, especially because as an indigenous young woman, the world didn't make sense to me”.

Sandi’s journey was a long one. After leaving her relationship, Sandi’s first job was a social worker for an Indigenous women’s shelter and she was surprised by how much love she had for this job. The thing she enjoyed most was helping others. This led her to seeking a job with an Indigenous not-for-profit, employment organization as a secretary but in aspiring to become the Executive Director, led her to return to schooling. In time she was able to achieve her goal leading a $4 million-dollar, Indigenous organization only to find that she had another desire – to be a full-time writer.

Sandi’s love was always writing but in publishing her first book, Honorary Indian, was the first time she shared her writings with others. In Honorary Indian, Sandi shares the teachings of her Ojibwe Mom with a story for each day. This was followed by Her Mother’s Daughter, another daily motivational guide. Sandi wrote her next book, The Path, as action plan to reconciliation for Indigenous and non-Indigenous. Sandi last book is, I am Awaken.

Sandi feels her path in life is to help others see their light. She does this through her activism, she does this through her books and she does this through her speaking engagements.