For Alexis Albert of Oneida Nation of the Thames, Red Dress Day is an opportunity to educate people on the importance of breaking cycles of violence, while remembering the Indigenous women and girls whose lives were cut short as a result.
It’s a day to shed light on those who never received closure or justice, said Albert at an event to mark the national day of awareness for missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people, observed every year on May 5.
“This whole day is about raising awareness because society doesn’t see us. When our Indigenous women go missing, it’s their fault and they’re not looked for. When our young people go missing, they’re probably a runaway so there’s no urgency,” she said.
“It’s just not taken seriously and that needs to stop. We need to be seen and heard when our people go missing.”
About 100 community members participated in a walk at the First Nation, south of London, Ont., while wearing red t-shirts and face paint, holding up signs with the names and stories of their loved ones who never returned home.
The latest Statistics Canada report found that the homicide rate for Indigenous women and girls was six times higher than the rate for their non-Indigenous counterparts. They are also 12 times more likely to go missing or murdered, according to a national inquiry from 2019.
Red dresses could be seen hanging from trees at London’s Victoria Park, where dozens attended a Red Dress Day event, that included a men’s drumming circle and stalls of Indigenous-owned businesses.
The annual day of remembrance allows Canadians to learn about the issue and its persistence in Indigenous communities because many were never taught about it in school, said Londoner Connie Patriquin from the Oneida Nation.
“It’s an education for both us as native people and the community we live in too,” said Patriquin. “I have so many people who tell me they learned what was happening and were very empathetic because they were never made aware of these things.”
Patriquin said the awareness is growing nationwide and she’s hopeful that it’ll create positive change for future generations, but for many First Nations, the wounds of losing their loved ones remain fresh, she said.
“It still touches your heart. It never goes away because there was never any resolution, it’s like they were just thrown away, they were disposable and that’s always going to be there.”
Violence against Indigenous women stems from colonization, said Albert, who runs the Oneida Family Healing Lodge, supporting families fleeing intimate partner violence, and uses a ‘rebuilding families approach’ to healing.
“Our families didn’t learn how to be families, we were ripped apart from one another due to residential schools and the violence just trickled down because our families were broken from that,” she said.
Jessica George, 18, was front and centre at the walk in Oneida as she carried newspaper clippings detailing the murder of her cousin Theresa Wilson-Jamieson-Fleming, whose body was found in the Thames River, near Chatham in 2011 — one year after she vanished.
“It’s really scary you know, I feel like anyone can get taken and this can become a reality for any of us,” George said.
Watching communities across the country organize Red Dress Day events, which are attended by non-Indigenous members is a sign of progress, said Oneida Coun. Rosalind Antone.
“We as a people are expressing ourselves and raising our voices. It’s not something else coming in and doing it for us,” Antone said. “It’s learning that self-value and we’re just starting that journey after the residential schools, which took it away from us and our great-grandparents.”