indigenous community honours missing and murdered women, girls, two-spirit and lgbtq+ with red dress day
2 minute read
we apologize, but this video has failed to load.
try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
on a warm, sunny and cheery tuesday afternoon, visitors walking down the path in the field along memorial drive experienced a chilling display that belied the sunny skies.
calgarians gathered at the field of ribbons in northwest calgary to honour red dress day, to remember missing and murdered indigenous women, girls, two-spirit and lgbtq+ people.
red shirts, dresses and sweaters hung on trees lining the path, each bearing the name of a lost community member.
“red is the only colour that the spirits see,” said vanessa badger hunter, spokeswoman for the event. “we put them in the trees because the tree is connected to every tree in the world.”
this event marked hunter’s second time speaking in public about her daughter, willow little red fox, who died in 2021.
she had been missing for five months and died four days before the family was notified.
“what was really disheartening was that the calgary city police, edmonton police, child welfare… they all failed her because they didn’t listen to me,” hunter said.
she wore a red jingle dress, a time-honoured indigenous symbol that combines the sacred healing tradition with a plea for justice for missing and murdered indigenous people.
“she loved to jingle, dress, dance — she loved her family, she loved just school,” hunter said of her daughter. “she loved just being around people.”
by 3 p.m. calgarians had begun to gather on the field and either sat on the grass, in picnic chairs or under a large tent, sipping coffee.
until 7 p.m., organizers will host an opening prayer and smudge by a community elder, and a number of speeches, dances and drum songs, sharing stories of lost loved ones and community resilience.
“i hope today people take away the fact that not everybody’s invisible, not everybody’s just a piece of trash to be thrown in the garbage,” hunter said.
hundreds of red dresses and garments were hung in trees along memorial drive in calgary on tuesday,
brent calver/postmedia
advertisement
trian knight has been attending events such as this throughout the years, and for the first time brought his daughter, tleaha sugar knight.
“i’m trying to show my daughter how to grieve,” he said. “so we can honour the people who have passed on and honour their memories in a good way.”
his daughter have lost two aunts to violence in saskatchewan years ago. for knight, those women were his sister and his sister-in-law.
next to knight, on the grass, a red drum peeked out from a shopping bag.
“i’m going to sing an honour song,” he said. “these are just songs to help them move on and help the families get through their grief, and help them just to sing and dance and enjoy life again.”
up in the trees, hundreds of red items swayed in the slight breeze.
“as i dance and as my jingles are going, we’re sending a message back up to them that we’re still here and we’re still saying (their) names,” hunter said.
“we’re not letting you be forgotten.”
share story
