49th ABS Annual Conference

Joan Young proposes to look at her rekindling of friendship with Indigenous Bahá’ís whom she first met in the 1970s — as well as her visits with their non-Indigenous friends — to collect life stories. She aims to demonstrate the profound value of friendship across the cultural divide and to connect these relationships to the current dialogue around Truth and Reconciliation. She contends that building "common memory," a term used by Indigenous leader, Georges Erasmus, is essential in the building of community. Participants will be inspired to write the unique histories which they have access to.