(rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

By rdnewsNOW staff

231 calls to justice

Walk this Sunday in Red Deer to remember all missing & murdered Indigenous people

Apr 30, 2024 | 10:15 AM

A solemn walk to remember all Missing & Murdered Indigenous Peoples (MMIP) is happening in Red Deer on May 5, or what is known nationally as Red Dress Day.

The walk begins at 8 a.m. with an opening ceremony at the Common Ground Garden Project (5581 45 Street).

There with be a pipe ceremony led by Elders Lynn & Corky Larsen-Jonasson, with drummers, singers and a tipi. There will be speakers and the hanging of red dresses at 9 a.m., a prayer and feast at 10 a.m., then the walk to City Hall Park, followed by a community gathering there starting at noon.

Lindsay Beaulieu, community engagement coordinator with Urban Aboriginal Voices Society (UAVS), and co-chair of Rethink Red Deer (Common Ground Garden Project), says the event will call attention to the 231 Calls for Justice as outlined by the final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG).

UAVS recognizes, however, that men and boys are also at high risk.

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“This event will help community come together to grieve and bring recognition to the crisis that we have today with missing and murdered Indigenous peoples,” says Beaulieu.

“We believe that the spirits can see the colour red, so by wearing red, we can have those spirits come and gather with us. We believe that in their death being so traumatic that they are still lost, and that with wearing red they can be with us, so they can find us and know we remember them.”

A red handprint on a face symbolizes the voice taken away from the person, says Beaulieu.

“This day is so significant to help bring the awareness to this ongoing crisis, to let the public know that this is something that we are still facing today. Indigenous peoples are more likely to go missing or to be murdered, men and women, boys and girls, and our 2SLGBTQIA+ community.”

Also partnering on the event are the Red Feather Women, Red Deer Dance Troupe and Métis Red Deer Local.

There will be a space for people to post pictures of a lost loved one on a poster, Beaulieu notes.

Pictures are not permitted during the pipe ceremony, organizers note.

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READ MORE

• Grief takes forefront at Red Dress Day observance in Red Deer
• Red Dress Day event about building hope, says one community grandmother
• Int’l Women’s Day takes solemn pause at Red Deer City Hall gathering
• Métis Nation of Alberta becomes Otipemisiwak Métis Government with first election
• New Red Deer Métis District 3 rep talks Bill C-53 after swearing in of Otipemisiwak Métis Government

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