Indigenous communities mark Red Dress Day honouring MMIWG, educating young girls

Kendra Seguin · CBC News

· Posted: May 05, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 infinitesimal ago

Indigenous communities successful and astir the London country are marking Red Dress Day with initiatives that absorption connected education and the prevention of unit against young women.

Also known arsenic National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit+ People (MMIWG2S+), the time draws wide attraction to an contented that continues to beryllium felt by Indigenous communities daily, said Danielle Hill from Oneida Nation of the Thames.

"This is our life. We person to beryllium disquieted astir this each azygous day," Hill said. "Every clip we spell out, each clip we instrumentality a autobus by ourselves, we're much prone to getting taken."

Between 2009 and 2021, the homicide complaint among Indigenous women and girls was six times higher than their non-Indigenous counterparts, according to Statistics Canada. 

Red Dress Day started successful 2010, erstwhile Métis creator Jamie Black hung hundreds of reddish dresses to honour MMIWG2S+, and has since go an yearly day, taking spot each May 5 arsenic much groups started akin initiatives.

"In Indigenous cultures, a batch of them judge that reddish is the lone colour that spirits tin see," said Kristen Longdo, Fanshawe College's Indigenous Strategic Learning Guide, who is Haudenosaunee, Mohawk from Six Nations of the Grand River. 

"It's a mode of making the invisible disposable and calling spirits home, but besides demanding justice." 

The assemblage volition person adjacent to 40 donated reddish dresses connected show astir its main field connected Monday, Longdo said, each with a sanction tag of a antithetic pistillate who has gone missing oregon been murdered wrong the past 5 years. 

"A batch of the names that are going to beryllium connected the dresses are from 2020 onwards, truthful this is inactive happening," Longdo said. "[Indigenous women] proceed to look disproportionately precocious rates of violence, contempt nationalist inquiries, enactment plans and each these things that person been enactment successful spot to support Indigenous people."

It's wherefore organizers astatine the Oneida Family Healing Lodge accidental they're marking the juncture with events teaching young Indigenous girls however to support themselves.

"It's a horrible feeling. We shouldn't person to bash this, but it's what we person to do," said Hill, who is helping to signifier the Monday event, which volition see self-defence lessons and self-esteem workshops for girls. "We can't alteration the extracurricular satellite but each we tin bash is marque definite that we cognize we are loved and we are worthy."

The all-day event, happening successful and astir Oneida's assemblage centre, volition person activities catered to further educating the Indigenous assemblage successful ways that substance to them. 

"It's antithetic than having [an event] successful the City of London oregon the City of Toronto due to the fact that we unrecorded this," Hill said. "We don't request awareness."

Other Red Dress Day events

The Oneida Family Healing Lodge lawsuit volition commencement with opening speeches and snacks earlier participants spell connected an interactive memorial walk. Attendees will beryllium fixed a baccy necktie and volition commune arsenic they question down the walkway, which volition person statistics, pictures of missing and murdered women and information tips displayed, said Hill. 

In summation to the Red Dress Day display, Fanshawe College volition besides big a greeting vigil to honour MMIWG2S+ followed by a screening of Highway of Tears, a documentary astir the unsolved murders and disappearances of Indigenous women successful British Columbia. 

Atlohsa Family Healing Services successful London volition big a drop-in assemblage occurrence and luncheon astatine the Wiigiwaaminann Lodge astatine 550 Wellington Rd., wherever radical are invited to bring drums, rattles and shakers to play astir the fire.

The City of London is besides participating successful the time by displaying reddish dresses astatine City Hall and ribbon skirts successful the J. Allen Taylor Building. Some metropolis facilities and buildings downtown volition beryllium lit reddish to people the occasion.