Red Dress Day: National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit People
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Red Dress Day, also known as National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and Two-Spirit People (MMIWG2S), was started by artist Jaime Black and the REDress Project in 2010. The REDress Project was a public art installation to commemorate missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit peoples from First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities by hanging red dresses in public spaces.
“Through the installation I hope to draw attention to the gendered and racialized nature of violent crimes against Aboriginal women and to evoke a presence through the marking of absence,” said Jaime Black, artist.
National and international human rights authorities have spoken out about the high rates of violence against Indigenous women and girls in Canada. However, repeated calls for action have not brought about sufficient change.
- Indigenous women are seven times more likely to be a victim of a serial killer than non-Indigenous women in Canada.
- Indigenous women are three times more likely to experience sexual assault than non-Indigenous women.
- Indigenous women are as likely to be killed by a stranger or acquaintance as they are by an intimate partner (2018 Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces, Statistics Canada).
For Red Dress Day, take some time to learn what is happening in your communities.
2024 Virtual Author Event: Angela Sterritt
On April 30, 2024, Angela Sterritt joined us for a special online talk about her book Unbroken : my fight for survival, hope, and justice for Indigenous women and girls
Angela Sterritt is an award-winning investigative journalist and national bestselling author from the Wilp Wiik’aax (we-GAK) of the Gitanmaax (GIT-in-max) community within the Gitxsan (GICK-san) Nation. Sterritt worked as a television, radio, and digital journalist at CBC for more than a decade. She hosted the award-winning CBC original podcast Land Back. She lives on the territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh, Vancouver, Canada.
Virtual Author Talk with Angela Sterritt
2024 Beaded Red Dress Craft
Make your own beaded Red Dress pin with our instructions and video. The beaded Red Dress is based on the Lil Red Dress design, which raises money for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls signage and to help bring awareness to broader community.
Written instructions linked here
Beaded Red Dress Instructions from Heather Harris:
Other Resources
Try this dress origami craft video tutorial
Read, watch, listen and explore the resources below.
Initiatives
- Native Women’s Association of Canada
- The Safe Passage Initiative includes interactive maps of MMIWG2S cases, unsafe experiences, and community resources
- National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigeneous Women and Girls website – the #SacredMMIWG campaign
- The Standing Committee on the Status of Women – Studies the policies, programs, expenditures, and legislation of the department and agencies, that conducts work related to the status of women.
- The Moose Hide Campaign – A BC-born, Indigenous-led grassroots movement to engage men and boys in ending violence towards women and children.
- Government of Canada Resources – The Government of Canada launched a national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. Use the filter feature to find resources specific to British Columbia.
- National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center (USA) – Providing national leadership in ending violence against Indigenous women by lifting up the collective voices of grassroots advocates.
- Response to MMIWG2S toolkit
- Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women (USA) – with the mission to stop violence against Indigenous women and children by advocating for social change in our communities.
Read Online
- Reclaiming the Power of Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (2019)
- Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People: National Action Plan, 2022 Progress Report
- Article: Those Who Take Us Away: Abusive Policing and Failures in Protection of Indigenous Women and Girls in Northern British Columbia, Canada (Human Rights Watch, 2013)
- Amnesty International’s Report on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
- Article: Hunted: How Indigenous Women Are Disappearing in Canada by Brandi Morin (2021)
Podcasts
- Island Crime: Where is Lisa series – about the disappearance of Lisa Marie Young from Nanaimo
- CBC podcast Missing and Murdered: Who Killed Alberta Williams? and Finding Cleo hosted by Connie Walker
- Taken: the podcast (English and French)
- Land Back by Angela Sterritt
Watch Online
- Finding Dawn directed by Christine Welsh – National Film Board of Canada
- The Red Dress directed by Michael Scott – National Film Board of Canada
- Mary Two-Axe Earley: I am Indian Again directed by Courtney Montour – National Film Board of Canada
- The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open directed by Kathleen Hepburn and Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers – Kanopy
- Throat Song directed by Miranda de Pencier – Kanopy
- Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls, a Canadian Responsibility – Sophie Kiwala – Tedx Talk (Youtube)
- MMIWG – Respect Our Boundaries: A Conversation on Land, Bodies, and Consent – Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women (Youtube)
- Our Sisters in Spirit (MMIWG Documentary) – Nick Printup (Youtube)
- 1200+ Raising awareness to the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada – by Sheila North and Leonard Yakir.
Past VIRL Events
2023: Brandi Morin Author Event
Brandi Morin joined us on April 27th 2023 for an inspiring and informative discussion of her book, Our Voice of Fire: A Memoir of a Warrior Rising.
You can watch the recording here.
Brandi Morin is an award-winning Cree/Iroquois/French multimedia journalist from Treaty 6 territory in Alberta. She is best known for her clear-eyed and empathetic reporting on Indigenous oppression in North America. She is also a survivor of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls crisis and uses her experience to tell the stories of those who did not survive the rampant violence. Her most notable work has appeared in publications and on networks including National Geographic, Al Jazeera, the Guardian, the Toronto Star, the New York Times, APTN, and CBC Indigenous. Brandi won a Human Rights Reporting award from the Canadian Association of Journalists in April of 2019 for her work with the CBC’s Beyond 94 project tracking the progress of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.
Brandi’s debut memoir Our Voice of Fire: A Memoir of a Warrior Rising, became a national bestseller within days of its August 2, 2022 release. “From her time as a foster kid and runaway who fell victim to predatory men and an oppressive system to her career as an internationally acclaimed journalist, Our Voice of Fire chronicles Morin’s journey to overcome enormous adversity and find her purpose, and her power, through journalism. This compelling, honest book is full of self-compassion and the purifying fire of a pursuit for justice.” (from the publisher)
