Honoring Red Dress Day
May 5 is Canada’s National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People. It is also known as Red Dress Day, as sparked by the Red Dress Project started in 2009 by Metis artist Jamie Black-Morsette, who hung red dresses in public places to invite people to stop and confront these injustices. She spoke to CBC this week about how the day has evolved since then.
To mark this day, the Office of Indigenous Relations and the Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office hosted UWaterloo’s Red Dress Day remembrance. The event opened with a sacred fire and remarks followed by the hanging of red dresses, and placing signs with the names and brief stories of missing or murdered individuals. These true stories span a wide range of time, from the 1950s to 2020s, and a wide range of circumstances, from being picked up by a stranger on a highway to being killed by an ex-partner, and geographies, both close to home and far away. In a recurring theme, authorities dismissed or minimized reports and delayed opening missing person cases. This reality was reinforced by the screening of the documentary This River by Erika MacPherson and& Katherena Vermette about personal loss and volunteer- led search efforts on the Red River in Winnipeg by Drag the Red.
The RCMP reported over 1,000 missing Indigenous people between 1980-2012, and the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls reported over 4,000 cases. The national inquiry website also showcases artist expressions to bear witness and recognize the human dignity of victims and survivors.
Art by Indigenous artists is featured in the Red Dress Day exhibit at the Grebel Gallery at Conrad Grebel University College from May 2 to 15. This exhibit was curated by the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Ontario Indigenous Neighbours program in collaboration with Judy Ross Mack, a KW based artist, Vanessa Genier from Quilts for Survivors, and Marcus Noah and Billy Koosees from Niska Artisans.
Curator Fiona Li (MPACS 2024) became aware of issues of injustice towards Indigenous communities as an international student in Grebel’s Masters in Peace and Conflict Studies program. This led to her taking on a Map the System research competition topic put forward by MCC Indigenous Neighbours, and presenting her research at the Canadian finals. After an internship with MCC, Fiona is now part of the core team. Building on this research, MCC and Indigenous partners have co-created a powerful experiential learning activity, similar to the Blanket Exercise, and the accompanying art exhibit. Together they raise awareness around the systemic factors leading many Indigenous women and gender diverse people in Canada to being harmed and over-incarcerated.
The stations of the activity and exhibit speak to how interconnected systems such as housing, foster care, physical and mental health, violence, and economic survival penalize Indigenous people with systemic discrimination and inequities. In contrast, the artists’ images and words about each piece show the resilience and healing of Indigenous women and inherent in Indigenous culture and community.
The public is welcome to view the exhibit at their own pace, and to participate in a Call 30 workshop at the Grebel Gallery on Thursday, May 14th from 5-7pm. Groups can also host the workshop and/or exhibit in other community spaces by contacting Fiona or workshop co-host Feather & Cross.
Red Dress Day reminds us to face the reality that there is still unequal access to resources, respect, and justice across Canada. The compounding impacts of colonization and intergenerational trauma continue to result in people’s incarceration, disappearance, and death.