Across Canada, people hung red dresses outside of their homes to both honour and call attention to thousands of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls on May 5 — known as Red Dress Day.
Leone Paul, a resident of N’dilo, said it was the first time she had ever hung a red dress outside of her home. She said she was marking a personal experience that happened in her family over the last year but would not provide details.
“I think the issue does need more attention because people seem to forget the number of murdered and missing women and girls in the north.”
“Many women and girls have not seen justice served,” she said. “Our women are our carriers of life and it is very sad when they are not being honoured and respected.”
Across town, others hung red dresses in different shades and styles in front of their homes.
One woman, who declined to be named, displayed a red ribbon ribbon dress at her Peace River Flats neighbourhood home.
”It’s really just a way to honour murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls and bring awareness because it is not just an Indigenous issue,” she said, noting the issue affects all of society.
“It is about honouring the people who went missing because they left families behind too.”
Gail Cyr, who spoke at the Inquiry about her own experience with violence, has worked as a special advisor on the file for the GNWT and has helped provide families counselling and comfort when they have had similar experiences.
“I think it is important for everybody to remember but because there are people with missing family members and women and girls,” she said. “There is a lot of grief and some involve situations that are never resolved and so it is important for the families.
“The red dress serves as a reminder to society in general and communities that this going on and that Indigenous women experience, on average, a five-times-higher chance of going missing or being murdered.”
In June 2019, the final report from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) was published. It showed a disparate number of women and girls who have been murdered or gone missing
and included hundreds of calls for justice aimed at government institutions, police services and Canadians.
Caroline Wawzonek, minister Responsible for the Status of Women is leading the file on the tabling of the GNWT’s action plan to carry out the 231 Calls for Justice from the final report of the National Inquiry on MMIWG.
She said the GNWT is one of the first governments in Canada to respond to calls for action, although the federal government is still developing a National Action Plan.
In March, Wawzonek announced that the plan is to be expected in the fall.
“There is the need to continue to recognize that we are a jurisdiction that has the second highest rate of violence against women,” she said, noting that a high proportion of those are Indigenous women.
“We cannot let the calls to justice and the statements heard at the inquiry be another report that sits on the shelf.”
Wawzonek said that seeing some red dresses displayed in the community is a welcome reminder that people want to see action taken and that the spirit of the report is kept alive.
“I remember the first time several years ago seeing a neighbour hanging a red dress and not knowing the symbolization behind it,” she said, adding she looked it up and researched it.
She pointed out that the red dress symbol wasn’t as well known five years ago, but that since the National Inquiry, the symbol has become recognizable to Canadians and is one that keeps pressure on government.
Laila Adam, policy and communications spokesperson with the Dene Nation said in an email that it is likely there are few events taking place associated with Red Dress Day due to the pandemic.
She said the Dene Nation welcomed a recent announcement by the Assembly of First Nations which is hosting regional engagement sessions on a First Nations-led response to the National Inquiry’s final report.