Brenda Mercer holds a red dress at the Saamis Tepee on Friday. (Photo Courtesy Bob Schneider)

By Chris Brown

Murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls

Miywasin promoting Red Dress Day awareness on Saturday

May 6, 2022 | 2:42 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – May 5 is a solemn day each year to honour and remember murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls.

Started in 2010 by Métis artist Jaime Black, it is also referred to as Red Dress Day. Black used red dresses to draw attention to missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls across Canada and the United States.

“The dresses were to symbolize the women that were missing,” Brenda Mercer, cultural coordinator at Miywasin Friendship Centre. “There’s been a lot of Indigenous women who have gone missing even just from wherever in Canada mostly on the Highway of Tears unfortunately in B.C., and we just want to help and create awareness, keep people safe.”

The Miywasin Friendship Centre is hosting a Red Dress Day awareness event from 1-4 p.m. Saturday at the Kin Coulee Park bandshell to inform and educate.

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Mercer encourages people to bring a lawn chair so they can chat with her.

She says there will be drummers, singers, jingle dress dancers and speakers, and red dresses will be hung.

“This is just a really huge issue with our community and we want to bring more awareness to it,” says Mercer. “Last year we were selling pins and I think that the more people connect with us and learn about things like this it’s very valuable information.”

The Saamis Tepee will be lit red next week courtesy of South Country Co-op to further raise awareness of Red Dress Day