Advocates and allies renew calls for accountability and action on Red Dress Day

Red dresses and ribbons hung from the branches of the trees along Memorial Drive, waving in the wind, commemorating the day.

Allies, advocates and families came together on Friday to honour missing, murdered and exploited Indigenous people and share stories.

"This is a place of love, healing and a gathering for the families and the survivors," said Deborah Green, a long-time advocate for MMEIP. 

"Red is the colour that the spirits see so we call on them to come join us as we honour them."

In 1982, Green's sister was murdered on a starlight tour in Calgary. She and her sisters have been working toward making systemic changes since then, but she said little progress has been made despite reports and calls to action.

A provincial report released last year, titled 113 Pathways to Justice, highlighted several calls to action and recommendations for collaborative work.

But Green said that little action has been taken in terms of relationship building and progress toward reconciliation.

"I think Indigenous people are the most studied and reported on people in the world," she said. 

"Let's stop writing about it and talking about it and take action, let's make sure our people are safe, let's change the systems and let's change the marginalization of our people."

Systemic changes from all levels of government

Within the report, one of the seven principles for change calls for all levels of government to build relationships with Indigenous communities.

"Provincially, you will see the [report] and I would say no, we haven't progressed much in that area," Green said. 

Friday's event was only open to politicians who made that effort, and officers who wanted to attend were asked to do so as civilians and not dressed in uniform.

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek attended — something Green said speaks to the mayor's constant support of Indigenous people and the community.

Finding closure and taking action

At Siksika Nation, around 12 people took part in the Red Dress walk — to come together, heal and support each other and the community.

For Leanne Sleigh, the traditional wellness program coordinator with Siksika Health Services, it's a way to acknowledge that families are dealing with ambiguous loss, or loss without closure.

"The land that we walk on, Mother Earth, knows where [the missing] people are…that connection to our land, our spirits, our ancestors coming and walking with you through the wind is what's helping our people out," she said.

Sleigh added that everyone, both from Siksika and from other nations, need closure from the RCMP about their lost loved ones, and need more mental health work geared toward Indigenous people going through this from those in office.

"We have minimal amount of mental health therapists that can help out," she said.

If you do it on a ratio, Sleigh said there at least 300 people to one mental health therapist in the Sikiska community.

"That's a lot, so the Canadian government really needs to address this, we need those people. They need to recognize our traditional ways," she said.

"It needs to be recognized and it acknowledged so that it can help our people to heal."