A small gathering was held at the Longhouse in Campbell River’s Robert Ostler Park on May 5, Red Dress Day.
The day has been designated to remember the murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls in Canada (MMWIG) and is supported by the 100 Red Dress Project which hangs red dresses along highways and in public spaces to draw attention to the MMWIG.
“May 5 marks national Red Dress Day across the country and we stand here in solidarity to bring awareness to the thousands of murdered and missing Indigenous women across our country and the USA,” said Stephanie Elickus, organizer of Campbell River’s Red Dress Day event. “The colour red is the only colour our spirits see…and we hang a red dress in honour of these women to help bring them home.”
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The day is particularly poignant for Elickus who lost her sister-in-law in 1992.
“Her and another woman were murdered at the base of Mount Washington on this day,” Elickus said.
Elickus, who is involved with the 100 Red Dress Project, says the effort goes beyond just hanging the red dresses in trees along the country’s highways to remind people. It’s also a call to action for governments “to step up and put these cases (of murdered and missing women) in the forefront.”
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