b'MESSAGE FROM THE REGIONAL CHIEFMESSAGE FROMTHE REGIONAL CHIEFFOR BRITISH COLUMBIAVolunteering is a part of who we areTerry TeegeeAlex Thomas WayV olunteering is an interestingto help. Ive heard stories of people Terry Teegee and important concept. Itsspontaneously showing up when someone based on a distinction betweenwas struggling to bring home heavy AFN Regional Chief, BCAFNpaid work and free time, aloads of food, as community members 312345 Chief distinction that I dont always findknew that help was needed without being Kamloops, BCV2H 1H1relevant. Our Indigenous cultures dontasked. If you need a ride to town to visit Ph: 250-314-1502necessarily think of the work we do toa sick relative, there is always someone Toll Free: 1-866-869-6789help each other as volunteering. Helpingready to offer. Fax: 250-828-9893 each other is part of who we are. I admit that part of this self-reliance Special Advisor: In our everyday lives, our friends,results from the lack of services our Jaime Sanchez, MCIP RPPfamily members and neighbours arecommunities have struggled with for Cell: 250-713-1129constantly supporting each other. Thatsgenerations. Canada has never lived Email: jaime.sanchez@bcafn.ca the basis of so much of our conceptup to its fiduciary obligations, and our of what it means to be Indigenous. Ifcommunities have had to learn how to you are struggling to get a moose homeget by with less. But our commitment to from the bush, people are always readyeach other goes deeper than that.In the Bahtlats system that my community, Takla Nation, is part of, everyone has a role to play. The chairs and tables dont get set up by magic; it takes time and effort. Coffee needs to be made, food prepared and served. This workthe basic work that connects us together in our clans and forms the basis of our traditional governance systemsis done by the whole community, and often by the youth. And we dont have to ask. There is always help when you need it, especially during a Bahlats ceremony.Its by taking on this work, no matter how small, that you begin to build trust with the Elders in your clan. And its through that service that young people begin to be distinguished as leaders and eventually come to be given traditional names. Really, what some call volunteering, I think of as leadership.In this time that we have set aside to celebrate volunteers, lets not forget that service to our communities is a deeply held value, done by every member and often without the formal recognition that comes with a volunteer position in the non-Indigenous world.Terry Teegee Regional Chief for British Columbia Assembly of First Nations32 The Circle Winter Issue 1 2020'