草莓污视频导航

Nov. 25, 2019

'When I see a red dress, I think of my sisters'

REDress Project on campus protests genocide of Indigenous women in Canada
Red Dress Project
REDress Project on campus protests genocide of Indigenous women in Canada. Nathan Luit video, 草莓污视频导航

After her mother passed, Ahstanskiaki Sandra Catherine Manyfeathers moved to Calgary with her sisters to leave behind the poverty they faced on the Blood Reserve, south of Calgary. But their search for a better life and hope for the future was met with unthinkable tragedy.

鈥淲hen my mother passed, my sister Yvonne took us in as her own she taught us how to cook, how to be good homemakers, how to love one another. In 1991, she was murdered. She was kicked in the head until she was not cognitively there and died of her injuries. To lose her devastated our family,鈥 says Manyfeathers, former 草莓污视频导航 student and current instructor of Blackfoot language in the Werklund School of Education.

鈥淚n 2007, my other sister Jackie was murdered on 17th Avenue. She was stabbed in an act of violence during the Calgary Stampede. To lose her further devastated our family. It鈥檚 even harder to get closure because nobody was ever charged in her murder.鈥

Nathan Luit, 草莓污视频导航

Acts of genocide against Indigenous women

Sadly, stories like Manyfeathers鈥 are not uncommon for Indigenous women and girls in Canada. According to a published in 2018, although Indigenous people only represent five per cent of the Canadian population, between 2007 and 2017, Indigenous women and girls were grossly over-represented among victims of homicide, accounting for 450 of 454 victims.

Recognizing the gravity of systemic violence toward Indigenous women and girls, the Government of Canada launched a national inquiry into the crisis in 2016.

Among the numerous recommendations in the published in 2019, the inquiry finds that the long-standing violence including multigenerational trauma caused through generations of colonization, sexual exploitation and abuse, and social and economic marginalization can only be seen as genocide.

REDress Project honours lives of missing and murdered Indigenous women

Initiated by M茅tis artist Jaime Black in 2010 and brought to 草莓污视频导航 in 2017 by Yvonne Poitras Pratt, associate professor and director of Indigenous education in the Werklund School of Education, the REDress Project is an art installation calling attention to the crisis faced by Indigenous communities.

鈥淭he project came about as a way of raising public awareness around the issue of murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls in Canada. It鈥檚 meant to provoke attention, get people to ask questions, and around campus, it鈥檚 a way of starting to engage with our Indigenous community in a meaningful and respectful way,鈥 Poitras Pratt explains.

Symbolic of the many women lost to violent crime throughout the years, Poitras Pratt says the dresses are a way of honouring their lives while bringing the crisis to the attention of mainstream Canadians and calling for action to prevent future violence.

鈥淲hen I see a red dress, I think of the woman that could have been wearing it. I think of my sisters,鈥 says Manyfeathers. 鈥淲hen I stand next to a red dress that鈥檚 hanging, I stop to acknowledge it because to me, it represents somebody鈥檚 life that was taken from us and from someone who loved that individual.

鈥淐reating awareness is a step towards making Canada a better place where women are not murdered and left to die alone without dignity. We鈥檙e just beginning with projects like this one.鈥

To learn more about gender-based violence and supports available at 草莓污视频导航, visit the Sexual Violence Support website. Learn more about y.

If you think you have experienced sexual violence, or know someone who has, visit the鈥鈥痜or campus and community resources. You can also arrange a confidential consultation with the university鈥檚 sexual violence support team, by confidential鈥email