WHAT DO I KNOW? MY BEST FRIEND.
By Brendan William Cross
Saturday, June 27, 2009
[check against delivery]
Thank you, Kim. Kim Beaudin is our President of the Aboriginal Affairs Coalition of Saskatchewan and has come down from Saskatoon to be here with us today. I'm just going to take a few minutes to tell you about the history of our organization before we hear from Denita and Dawn.
The Aboriginal Peoples' Council of Regina was created in 2001 by Kevin Daniels and his family and friends, some of who are here with us today. Kevin's mom is our Elder Lillian Daniels, and we'd like to thank her for her opening prayer.
Denita Stonechild also was the original secretary of the Aboriginal Peoples' Council and was a founding member.
Kevin Daniels acted as president from 2001 until just last year when he ran for the position of Vice-Chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples. I was asked to be his campaign manager, and he won and was on his way to Ottawa. C.A.P.'s National Chief, Patrick Brazeau, was appointed to the Senate shortly thereafter and Kevin became National Chief. So within about 3 months' time, Kevin moved from being here in Regina to being National Chief in Ottawa.
We here in Regina are in the midst of re-organizing the Aboriginal Peoples' Council in time for the general meeting of the Aboriginal Affairs Coalition of Saskatchewan, which our provincial president Kim just announced will be taking place in Saskatoon on October 24th. Then, 16 delegates will be heading to Ottawa to elect the Chief of C.A.P.
We've chosen to do re-establish the Aboriginal Peoples' Council "the right way" as Lillian talked about earlier, which might mean waiting a while for everything to come together the right way - and it is - 'cause you are all here today.
We've put on this event using our own money, and I'd like to thank Denita & Hughie for their donation of money, time, their home. I want to thank Dawn & Kevin for their time and energy and transportation. And I'd like to thank Lillian for her prayers, and everyone here for being here in person.
You know, there are times that I realize there is a difference between believing something, thinking something, and knowing something. You can believe something, or you can think something, but I often ask myself, "What do I KNOW?" There is a difference between thinking and knowing.
"What do I know?"
"What do I know...?"
Sometimes it's only a couple, or three, things. What do I know?
I know I was created to do something good. And I do some things pretty good, in addition to other things I do.
I was born an Indian, but I grew up, like many, as a Canadian citizen- not a Status Indian as defined under the Indian Act. I was legally a Canadian, like any Canadian citizen, but when I turned 18, sure enough I legally became a Status Indian and everything changed and I didn't even know what it meant to be an Indian. What do I know?
When I turned 18, a friend told me a few times that there was something important I should do, and asked whether I would do it. Finally I agreed, even though I didn't know what it was my friend was talking about.
My best friend is the best friend in the world, but my friend is not here today- but that's okay. You are.
When I need good friends, I look for friends who remind me of my best friend- and I've found some really good friends. They are here with me today. And you are here with me today, and I am happy to call you my good friends. You remind me of my best friend, which means you are a good friend, too. Thank you for being my friend.
I just want to close now by telling you one last thing about my best friend.
My best friend just happens to be the Creator of the Universe.
Thank you.
Brendan
