Indigenous community finds strength in being together on Red Dress Day

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This article was published 06/05/2024 (726 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Indigenous people who marched and held a ceremony in downtown Brandon Sunday afternoon to honour the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirited people say they found strength in the gathering.

The march began at Brandon City Hall and ended with a drum performance, food, and smudging. Members of the Indigenous community were invited to share their own experiences with the gathered group. They sang, they drummed, and they prayed together. Alexis Cinq-Mars, a Selkirk Red River Métis woman, helped organize the march.

“Indigenous women are six times more likely to end up dead in Canada, and three times more likely to encounter violence in their lifetime. But in my opinion, those numbers are highly underestimated,” Cinq-Mars said, referencing a Statistics Canada study released last fall.

“I personally have not met a woman who has not encountered violence in their life.”

Organizers provided tobacco for smudging, a spiritual ceremony. Members of the community handed out food for those who had gathered, while the men provided plates to their elders. All leftover food was donated to the Blue Door, a community drop-in centre operated by Brandon’s Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation.

Participant Jennifer Clyne said she attended to show her children the importance of culture and community.

“I just feel the strength when we come together, and the love for each other. Feels like a community. More familiar faces, you see and start to know, more people learn,” she said. Clyne talked about how she has engaged with her culture by learning how to bead and by making moccasins and dreamcatchers.

“They never had this when I grew up, and I’m 32,” Clyne said about the march. “I’m learning my culture, and how to make these things and teach my kids how to do these things, so that they can teach their kids and be passed down.”

Lisa Noctor is an Indigenous woman who was present at the gathering and helped to hand out food.

“There’s people that are hurt every day and they don’t even feel safe enough to come forward. They don’t even feel safe enough to talk, so we came today to be be a voice for them,” she said.

When asked about how she felt about the day’s event, Clyne said, “I’m never happy to gather in this way. But I find hope and strength in it.”

Also on Sunday, the Manitoba government announced their intention to support the families of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirited people with a $15 million endowment fund to go towards the creation of a grant program launching in 2025.

The investment is being managed by the Winnipeg Foundation, and revenue generated is expected to reach $750,000 per year. In the coming months, the government will be working with effected family members, the Matriarch Circle, and community partners to develop grant eligibility and guidelines, according to the government media release.

»cmcconkey@brandonsun.com