Honouring MMIWG2S through local Red Dress Day events in Swift Current

A local community group, Red Dress Awareness Southwest, will be honouring Red Dress Day in a variety of ways in our community from May 2nd to 6th.

Red Dress Day, observed on May 5th, is also known as the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and Twospirit People (MMIWG2S).

Red Dress Day was inspired by the Redress Project, an art installation created by Métis artist Jaime Black. Black collected and hung hundreds of empty, red dresses to symbolize the many missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada.

Inspired by the Red Dress movement, Red Dress Awareness Southwest is hanging red dresses on trees throughout the city from May 2-6.

This is to honour Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and Two-spirit People, and their families and loved ones, and to increase people’s awareness about this important issue. They invite the community to join in showing support by hanging red dresses outside homes, businesses, and organizations, or by displaying red dress images in windows.

A red dress cutout pattern is available on the committee’s resource webpage at https://firstunitedsc.ca/project/reddress-day/, as are downloadable event posters.

For those who are wondering what actions they can take in addition to displaying a red dress, the committee’s resource webpage also has a 1-page PDF of the “Calls to All Canadians” from the “Calls to Justice” found in Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, as well as a link to the National Inquiry’s

Their Voices Will Guide Us: Student and Youth Engagement Guide.

In addition, on Saturday, May 4 at 1:00 pm, Red Dress Awareness Southwest is hosting a presentation on MMIWG2S, followed by a beading workshop, at the Swift Current Branch Library. The presentation and workshop will be facilitated by Cree artist and educator, Taneshea Francis. People are welcome to attend the presentation only or to attend both events. A limited number of the free beading kits are available, so please pre-register for the beading workshop at the library at 306-778-2752. Tea, coffee, and snacks will be provided.

For more information, visit Red Dress Awareness Southwest’s Facebook page at Red Dress Awareness Southwest | Facebook or their resource webpage at https://firstunitedsc.ca/project/reddress-day/.