Achi news desk-
Dozens of people gathered and marched down George Street in Sydney, NS, on Sunday to mark Canada’s National Awareness Day for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, also known as Red Dress Day.
Red Dress Day began in 2010 when a Métis artist in Winnipeg hung hundreds of red dresses in public spaces, symbolizing the loss of Indigenous women and girls.
Rhenelda Denny from Eskasoni First Nation took part in the Sydney walk. Her 21-year-old daughter, Eleanor Young, went missing in 2023.
“I really need to know what happened to my daughter,” said Denny.
Young’s body was found in September 2023 along an embankment off Sydney’s Wentworth Creek, a few hundred meters from where Sunday’s Red Dress Walk started in Wentworth Park.
“It’s hard,” Denny said of her family’s loss. “We wouldn’t be able to do it without the support of the Allies Center and the Jane Paul Centre.”
During Sunday’s ceremony, the Cape Breton Ally Center announced that a 25-unit rapid housing building being built in Sydney’s north end will be named in Young’s memory.
“We decided it would be best to name that building after Eleanor Young,” said Christine Porter, executive director of the Ally Center.
“The significance of that is of course that Eleanor died homeless and we feel that these housing initiatives really need to focus on those who are actually on the streets and most at risk.”
Twelve-year-old Rhyan Paul from Eskasoni, NS, attended the walk to talk about Indigenous women ​​​​​​​​​​not much older than herself who are part of the serious story that is decorated by the red dresses .
“I want the world to ask themselves, ‘Why are they allowing this?’ said Paul. “It gets shoved into a drawer. They’ll mourn, they’ll cry about it, then they’ll forget it the next day.”
The walk finished at the Jane Paul Center – a safe haven for vulnerable indigenous women and girls.
Meanwhile, Young’s mother had pleaded in her daughter’s case.
“Somebody needs to come forward, frankly, with information about Eleanor’s death,” he said.
For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.
