Sunday is Red Dress Day, which honours missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit peoples.
The origin of the day dates back to 2010 when Métis artist Jamie Black initiated the Red Dress Project.
“The Red Dress Project is an installation art project to bring attention to missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls,” said Black.
“I’ve collected hundreds of red dresses, and we display them empty in public spaces so people are confronted with both the violence that women are experiencing but also the presence and power of Indigenous women.”
What began as an art installation soon became a movement. Red Dress Day has emerged as an annual event to remember not just the lives lost, but also a call to action to demand justice for the victims and their families.
Kim Coltman, executive director of Fashion Speaks International, organized the two-day Revolutions Red Dress Fashion Festival in Kamloops over the weekend to mark the day. Models in uniquely designed red dresses took to the runway to make a powerful fashion statement.
“The stories that come out through the fashion are deeply moving,” Coltman said.
Coltman says it’s powerful watching Indigenous models hold their heads high as they walk the runway. It breaks behaviours pushed on the estimated 150,000 Indigenous children who were forced to attend residential schools, she says.
“The residential school taught them that they were to be seen not heard, and they were to look at their feet when they walk,” she says. “We need to make our people less invisible.”
Indigenous women and girls in Canada remain highly overrepresented as victims of violence. Between 2009 and 2021, the homicide rate among Indigenous women and girls was six times higher than their non-Indigenous counterparts, Statistics Canada said in a 2023 report.
Canada and Manitoba announced a partnership Friday for a Red Dress Alert system that would inform the public when an Indigenous woman or girl is reported missing. The pilot project is expected to help inform an eventual national alert system.
Amnesty International Canada is encouraging you to take action by signing their online petition demanding Canada protect the rights of Indigenous women and two-spirited land and water defenders.
With files from The Canadian Press