May 5 Is Red Dress Day

Today is Red Dress Day and the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

Today is Red Dress Day and the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

Red Dress Day is a day for raising awareness and education about the disproportionately high rates of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, two spirited, and men in Canada.

Red Dress Day started as The REDress Project – an instillation art project by Métis artist Jamie Black that focuses on the issue of missing or murdered Indigenous women across Canada.

Black was inspired by a demonstration she saw in Bogotá, Colombia, when she came across a group of local women who had gathered in a public square. The women had all experienced having people in their families go missing, without any kind of recourse.

“One woman in a red dress climbed to the top of the statue in the middle of the square, and she called out, ‘Where are they?’ I thought, we need to bring this energy home”, said Black.

To learn more about the REDress Project, go to https://www.jaimeblackartist.com/exhibitions/

Look for local, informal ceremonies throughout Campbell River & in the Comox Valley.