Red Dress Day: Commemorating Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Calls to Action

Held every year on May 5th, Red Dress Day is a day of honouring, remembering and raising awareness about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and two-spirit people.

Students had the chance of learning all about this meaningful day during a workshop held in April, by the Indigenous Studies certificate, Gender and Sexuality Studies certificate as well as the Department of Liberal and Creative Arts and Honours Social Sciences.

_{Candace Linklater, founder of Relentless Indigenous Woman Consulting, Inc.}

Graciously hosted by Candace Linklater, an Ililliew Cree from Moose Cree First Nation on Treaty 9 territory, Linklater is known for her online persona as “Relentless Indigenous Woman”, with a Facebook page accumulating over 550 000 followers. With the purpose of initiating conversations about subjects like the decolonization of feminism or matriarchy, Red Dress Day was one of the highlighted topics of the talk and sparked questions about what students can do to support such a cause.

To foster open dialogue about these topics and aid in the pursuit of addressing such an urgent crisis, that the National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls deemed to be an ongoing genocide, we encourage students to undertake these simple actions compiled by “Relentless Indigenous Woman”, Candace Linklater, inspired by the APTN’s seven calls to action for allies.

Read and share the MMIWG+ final report published in 2019, especially the calls for justice and the supplementary report on Quebec’s situation
Hold those in positions of power, like your local government officials and policymakers, accountable
Acknowledge white privilege to be able to confront racist beliefs and behaviours
Actively listen to Indigenous people and show up for them by supporting their communities and holding space for them
Donate to and volunteer with organizations serving Indigenous women like Resilience Montreal or the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal
Hang an empty red dress in your window or porch to evoke the missing women that should be wearing them
“Remember that saviours aren’t needed — solidarity is”: beyond performative action, show up to offer genuine support!