Effective Indigenous Allyship Teaching

Néi!  

My name is Sherene.  

I am an ally to marginalized people worldwide, but specifically to the Indigenous people whose land I now occupy in the North.  Allyship to Indigenous people can be very complex with a lot of potential pitfalls.  For the last decade I have been consulting for Northern First Nations and Indigenous organizations.  I know from experience that alot of time and money are spent on staffing people that just don't understand the challenges in Northern Indigenous communities.  Many times these working relationships end in wasted resources, turn-over, and disappointment.  

Sadly, I have personally stumbled into some of these pitfalls myself and made mistakes in my allyship.  I read all of the books, but they did not prepare me for the experience.  My education, my good intentions, and my sincerest desire to help, just were not enough.

I am of Mixed-Mexican-American descent and I found it very hard to be in a remote Indigenous community where I was brown, but not native to that land.  One time I experienced extreme racism in a private meeting with the principle at the school that my kids attended. Outraged, I wrote an aggressive public letter about his behaviour.   I did not consult my friends at the First Nation before I sent that letter.  It turned out that the school had an education agreement with the First Nation, and by calling out the school, I was unintentionally calling out the First Nation without even knowing it!  

I created a bad situation for everyone by not taking the time to talk to my allies, not taking the time to get all of the information, and not seeking consultation on how to respond.   I reacted in anger.  In my mind, I was a brown woman speaking out about a personal violent act of racism that me and my children had experienced.  How can that be a bad thing?  Wouldn’t speaking out fight oppression for everyone?   In this case, the way I did it was unintentionally harmful to the very people I aimed to stand with.  I felt so ashamed and crushed by this experience.  Ultimately, amidst all of the confusion and chaos, the principal got away with his bad behaviour.

Thankfully, life is a gracious teacher.  We learn from our mistakes.  We get another chance to do better when we know better.  

At the time that this happened, I wished someone had better prepared me for effective allyship.  Then I realized, Indigenous people are in a daily fight for their land, language, and culture.  It’s not their responsibility to make me a good ally.  It’s mine!  

This teaching has grown out of my 20 years of work in human transformation; my 12 years of work with Indigenous people; and my deepest desire to take on the responsibility of effective Allyship that is rooted in action and gets results.  I am excited to be part of the solution - preparing helpers for a long term commitment to allyship and action!

If you would like to learn more about the Effective Indigenous Allyship Teaching click here and I will send you a detailed program guide.

Gunalchéesh 💜

Sherene St. Cyr

MA Counselling Psychology

writer | speaker | consultant

Note:  Me and my three children spend part of the year located on the traditional territories of the Ta'an Kwäch'än Council and the Kwanlin Dün First Nation.  In the summertime we move to our land-based camp on the Taku River Tlingit Territory. A land acknowledgement does not replace taking responsible action to support the people who's territory we occupy.