Achi news desk-
Events were held across Alberta on Sunday to mark Red Dress Day to honor the memory of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
The fourth Annual MMEIP (Missing, Murdered, and Exploited Indigenous People) Red Dress/Ribbon/Mohkinstsis Shirts was held in Calgary on Sunday.
Survivors and families gathered at the “Field of Red Ribbons” – located at the corner of Memorial Drive and Center Street.
“We put all these dresses and all the ribbons on the trees, and they all represent our missing and murdered people,” said Sterling Green, co-organizer of the event.
The event takes place every year on Red Dress Day and focuses on honoring the families affected by the deaths of indigenous people.
“This is a day for us to put down our signs and lower our voices and come together and celebrate the lives of those we have lost, our mothers, our aunts, our sisters, our best friends, and most importantly, also. the men in our lives, our brothers, our uncles, our friends,” said Hayley Starlight, who attended the walk.
Starlight’s cousin, Colton Crowshoe, was killed in 2014. This July will mark the 10th anniversary of his death.
“For the past 10 years, this trauma has affected me mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and most importantly, physically,” Starlight said.
Wiley Su Provost pleaded guilty to manslaughter in Crowshoe’s death in 2023.
‘She never forgets’
A walk was also held in Edmonton, where families, survivors and supporters walked down Jasper Avenue to remember those they have lost.
Donna Robillard, whose daughter, Carolann Robillard, and granddaughter, Sara (Jayden) Miller, were killed last year, was on the walk with her family.
The 35-year-old mother and her 11-year-old daughter died on May 5, 2023.
“Today is their birthday,” Robillard said.
Robillard was surrounded by several family members at the event, who were all there to remember Carolann and Sara.
“I know I’m going to have some tears, and we’re all going to have some tears,” she said.
“Well we are a big family and we are there for each other and we have a lot of support.”
Tanisha Miller, Carolanne’s daughter, said that her mother and sister being gone doesn’t feel real.
“It feels like they are still at home, still able to call them,” she said.
She described her sister and mother as adventurous people.
“They loved going out on adventures and exploring, going on walks. They were so full of life,” she said.
Judith Gale, leader of Bear Claw Beaver Hills House, a Native-led community organization in Edmonton, said all Native people share a similar story and lived experience.
“It’s a day that we really cherish because it’s a day for national awareness of missing and murdered indigenous people, two-spirit men, boys,” Gale said.
“It affects every indigenous person on Turtle Island today. It is an ongoing genocide that we would like to stop.”
Gale said she was walking to remember her sister, who was murdered in Montreal when she was 16 years old.
“Today I call her spirit to us to let her know that she never forgets,” he said.
With files from Tyler Barrow of CTV News from Calgary and Miriam Valdes-Carletti from CTV News Edmonton
