Red Dress Day began in 2010, when artist Jaime Black (of mixed Anishinaabe and Finnish descent) responded to the more than a thousand missing and murdered Indigenous women across Canada by creating an art installation of red dresses.
Since then, May 5 has been established as the National Day of Awareness of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) in Canada, also called Red Dress Day.
Here at Trinity Western, Patti Victor, University Siyá:m and Chair of TWU’s Indigenous Partnership Council, is leading the campus community to remember and respond to Canada’s missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls on February 14-15, 2022.
“We are providing an opportunity for the TWU community to stand together in ceremony, reconciliation, and solidarity,” said Patti Victor. “My hope and prayer is that as our learning and understanding grows, our journey together will flourish.”
Event details
All TWU students, staff and faculty are invited to the following outdoor events.
Dates:
- Monday, February 14 | 12:00 p.m. | Storywalk
- Tuesday, February 15 | 4:30 p.m. | Remembrance Vigil
Location:
- Remembrance Circle in the center of the Langley campus (the circular garden bed located outside of Douglas Hall)
Program:
- February 14 — We will begin a Storywalk at noon and hang red dresses to symbolize the Indigenous women and girls who are missing or murdered. This ceremony will follow traditional Stó:lō protocol.
- February 15 — We will gather at 4:30 p.m. for a Remembrance Vigil to stand together to listen, to hear, and to pray. As we remember and pray for God’s direction in ways to end the violence, we will learn to walk together in a good way.
To learn more about the reason behind TWU’s Red Dress events, here are some helpful resources:
- Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) has created a database of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls. A fact sheet can be found here.
- The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) report is found here.
Note to participants:
- You are welcome to please gather red dresses (with hangers) to bring to the gathering on February 14 and to encourage others to join in the ceremonies.
- You may want to read the MMIWG Report and the calls to justice ahead of time and consider which calls to justice apply to education and how are they being applied.
- You may want to have some conversations around white privilege; taking responsibility for the systems that benefit or privilege some, while oppressing or marginalizing others.
We look forward to our time together as a TWU community.
Trinity Western University, Langley campus is located on the traditional ancestral unceded territory of the Stó:lō people.
See also—Walking towards Indigenous reconciliation: University Siya:m Patricia Victor reflects on 10 years at TWU:
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About Trinity Western University
Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is Canada’s premier Christian liberal arts university dedicated to equipping students to establish meaningful connections between career, life, and the needs of the world. It is a fully accredited research institution offering liberal arts and sciences, as well as professional schools in business, nursing, education, human kinetics, graduate studies, and arts, media, and culture. It has four campuses: Langley, Richmond-Lansdowne, Richmond-Minoru, and Ottawa. TWU emphasizes academic excellence, research, and student engagement in a vital faith community committed to forming leaders to have a transformational impact on culture. Learn more at www.twu.ca or follow us on Twitter @TrinityWestern, on Facebook and LinkedIn.