When Patricia Verge was 26 she had her first encounter with people of the Baha'i faith. She learned that the faith taught the acceptance of all religions and more importantly the concept of "oneness" in the world - similar to many of Canada's Indigenous cultures. Years later, Verge is telling her story in a memoir titled Equals and Partners, which addresses her journey into the Baha'i teachings and how it connected her to Cochrane's First Nation neighbours - the Stoney Nakoda people. "Someone asked me to write the Baha'i history of Stoney Nakoda and I kind of hesitated," she said. Although she knew the community well, she felt unprepared. "I realized how ignorant I really was of the true history of settlement in Canada. " Ever since she moved to Cochrane 30 years ago, Verge has been involved in the Stoney reserve. "Through attending funerals and wakes and graduations, I've gotten to know the people and been involved with them," Verge said. Her own family background is Irish, which she said has many similarities to First Nation culture. "I was at the home of my father's second cousin, in the area Cork. She said, 'I'm going to two funerals today. We don't really know them but we go to all of the funerals.' It made me immediately think of Stoney Nakoda people because this is such a beautiful thing, they're so supportive of one another when they go through good and bad and I have been to many funerals and I said in the book some are celebratory because some of them have lived 80 or 90 years, some of them have been tragic and people I have known that died way too young," she said. "There were some very painful deaths and that sort of thing in the early years." She described one of these losses in her book, though she does not name the individual for the family's privacy. "I name going to the funeral and taking my children and how we felt," Verge said. She also writes of uplifting or humorous stories throughout her memoir - all of which to capture her experience within the community and her reflections as a Baha'i. "Then there are funny things - really funny things like the time I ran into a telephone pole in front of a tribal policeman," she said. "It's just my story of learning as a non-Indigenous - how much richness it's brought to my life. How I feel this principle of Bahhala has really propelled me to wish to become true friends from another culture and a lot of people have been receptive." "It's in a way a love letter because they have been so kind to me and my family. They are kindly people," she said. "That's notwithstanding the ups and downs of colonialism and the discrepancies and injustices - I do address that." Verge held a book launch for her memoir recently at the Nakoda Elementary School in Morley. The event drew in more than 50 people. The program included prayers in both Stoney Nakoda and English languages, Indigenous drumming, a stew and bannock supper and storytelling from the book. Verge's next book launch is next week at the Cochrane Public Library on June 12 from 6:30 to 7 p.m. For more information on her memoir, visit PatriciaVerge.ca
