Red Dress Day recognized in Red Deer
A number of Red Deerians gathered outside Shining Mountains Living Community Services Wednesday morning to recognize the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people, also known as Red Dress Day.
Raye St. Denys, executive director at Shining Mountains, says the ceremony featured prayers, song, and an opportunity to reflect on the lives of those lost or still missing.
“The red dress has been a symbol for Indigenous women for quite a while,” she explains. “It also symbolizes the blood that we’ve lost, the connections in our families that we’ve lost, so that’s why we use them. They’re hung empty but they should be filled, they should be worn on women and they’re hung to symbolize the fact that there’s no one there.”
Fourteen red dresses were hung at Shining Mountains on 46 Street, including two Metis toonicks, a Metis capote, and an Inuit winter jacket.