May 5th is Red Dress Day, a day to remember and honour Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People.

In 2010, Métis artist Jaime Black created the REDress Project and this has become a movement with people across Canada using the Red Dress as a ways to bring awareness to the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People and be in solidarity with the loves ones left behind.

The Office of the Treaty Commissioner calls on people to join thousands of others across Canada in wearing red. Wearing red acknowledges those who have gone missing or have suffered a violent death are still in the hearts of people who knew them.

The OTC also asks that people use the day (and beyond) to further their learning. Read the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls’ final report, which showed that human and Indigenous rights abuses are the root causes behind Canada’s rate of violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people. Take time to become familiar with the Calls to Justice from the inquiry. Work to make workplaces, organizations, and lives, safer for all Indigenous Peoples.

Attending an event in honour of Red Dress Day can be a good place to start, the OTC is hosting a free online educational event on May 3.

Resources to support your learning
Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

Their Voices Will Guide Us, an educational and outreach initiative of the National Inquiry

Amnesty International’s Activism Guide for Red Dress Day 2024: Take Action

Red Dresses on Bare Trees: Stories and Reflections on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

The Highway is music video and song by N’we Jinan artists about the cases of missing and murdered Indigenous people along the highway of tears