‘All our hearts are connected’: Red Dress Day march honours the missing and murdered

Samarah Pruden held up a sign honouring her sister who has been missing for 10 years as she walked with more than 100 people decked out in crimson during the Red Dress Day rally in Brandon on Tuesday.

The march began at the Brandon University courtyard, where people gathered in a circle to smudge as they listened to a few speeches followed by singing and drumming.

A group of people holding a large banner covered in red handprints led the walk to honour and remember missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people (MMIWG2S) down Victoria Avenue, ending at Princess Park.

Pruden, from Peguis First Nation, said not knowing her sister’s whereabouts has left a void in her heart that can’t be filled.

“I’m just putting her name out there because a lot of people didn’t know that, like, she’s one of the people that’s missing, and I want to bring awareness to it that she’s not forgotten,” Pruden said.

“I want to help bring her home.”

Her sister, Lorlene Bone, was 31 years old when she was reported missing to the Swan River RCMP detachment on March 9, 2016. Bone was in Sapotaweyak Cree Nation when she last spoke with her mother on Feb. 29, 2016, Pruden said.

“Nobody knows anything, nobody’s come forward with anything,” she said.

Pruden said she remembers how powerful Bone’s laughter was.

“When she was here, she was such a happy soul,” she said.

Seeing the community unite to honour MMIWG2S annually on May 5 shows their names won’t be forgotten, Pruden said.

Red Dress Day was coined by Red River Métis artist Jaime Black-Morsette, who created the REDress Project in 2010 as a visual reminder that thousands of women, girls and two-spirit people are missing and murdered across Canada.

On this day, communities across the country hang red dresses in their windows or yards as a symbol of MMIWG2S.

Indigenous women make up 16 per cent of all female homicide victims and 11 per cent of missing women nationally, yet Indigenous people account for less than five per cent of Canada’s population, according to the Assembly of First Nations.

Tracy Young, from Bloodvein First Nation, said the day of awareness holds more meaning ever since her cousin, Jana Williams, was murdered in Winnipeg.

“She was found in the dumpster, in a suitcase, dismembered. She was five months pregnant at the time. She was really young,” said Young, as she held a sign honouring her cousin’s name.

Williams, 28, was found near the Red River at Alfred Avenue around 6 p.m. on March 4, 2021, a Winnipeg police news release said.

“I’m here to make sure my uncle and the mother know that I’m here to remember her,” Young said.

She said she wants other families with missing or murdered loved ones to “stay strong.”

Lori Carver was among a group of people singing and drumming at Princess Park as the large crowd watched about 15 jingle dress dancers move to the beat.

Carver, from Brokenhead Ojibway Nation, said she loves seeing the community come together to sing and dance because “all our hearts are connected.”

“It just feels so calming, relaxing and healing,” she said.

While she was singing and beating her drum, she was remembering some of her friend’s family members who are either missing or murdered.

“I just prayed for them and shed tears, you know, while I was in deep thought,” Carver said.

Red Dress Day is about educating the public, getting justice for victims of violence and acknowledging the high rates of MMIWG2S, said Eileen Moody, who is from Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation.

Moody works as the Indigenous student success officer at Brandon University’s Indigenous Peoples’ Centre. She said Brandon’s Red Dress Day march and feast were hosted in partnership with Brandon Indigenous Cultural Celebrations and Brandon Pride.

She said she was at the march to honour her sister’s best friend who recently went missing.

“She has been found, thankfully, but that was really scary,” she said.

Moody said it’s becoming common for people to ignore calls to search or act when an Indigenous woman, girl or two-spirit person goes missing.

“We kind of just share another post, and it’s a little different with others when they’re missing, like community really gets together quick to go find those people,” she said.

“I’m just hoping that, you know, we can all be equal and just acknowledge that we are mothers, sisters, daughters, cousins, you know, and we all matter.”

» tadamski@brandonsun.com