Canada’s House of Commons unanimously backed a motion on earlier this month declaring the deaths and disappearances of Indigenous women and girls a national emergency.
The May 2 motion also called for funding a new system to alert the public when someone goes missing.
On Friday, May 5, red dresses were displayed across the country to recognize National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit People. Known as Red Dress Day, the empty garments served as a symbol of lost lives.
In Tillsonburg, the Ingersoll and Area Indigenous Solidarity & Awareness Network hosted its first two-hour Honoring MMIWG2S+ event on May 6, displaying red dresses and scarves at Participark. They chose Saturday evening to avoid scheduling conflicts with healing ceremonies or pre-established marches.
“We wanted to make sure Oxford (County) was doing something to recognize it because we do have an Indigenous presence here, it’s just not as noticeable because we don’t feel as accepted,” said Patricia Marshal, director of Ingersoll & Area’s Indigenous Solidarity and Awareness Network (IISAN). “We’re trying to change that.”
Marshal said IISAN, organizers of Oxford’s annual March for Truth and Reconciliation in Ingersoll, is taking steps toward that goal. There are specific issues they feel Canadians, and specifically people in Oxford County, have the power to do something about. They are the Every Child Matters Movement, reconciliation for residential schools and “just being there for survivors and making sure that we’re moving forward taking into account the genocide that has been experienced,” Marshal said.
The second is Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit People, “something that has been going on since the establishment of what we now know as North America. And it’s still going on to this day.”
The third issue is lack of basic resources in Indigenous communities, and encouraging people to write their MPs and MPPs. “We all have that power at any time about any of these issues,” Marshal said.
“Some of the women that were at Participark shared about how when they were little, there were friends that just went missing – and nobody knew where they went,” said Tillsonburg Councilor Kelly Spencer, who attended the event with her mother. “The number is quite staggering – and that’s only the number that is reported…. This is the harsh reality for Indigenous women and girls.
“It was kind of a wakeup call,” said Spencer. “It’s weird to me that we don’t talk about this.”
IISAN’s Honoring MMIWG2S+ event, co-organized by Marhsal and Lisa Scott, had been planned since last November. They started asking for red dress donations in January, and purchased more dresses at Salvation Army to reach their goal of 50.
“We wanted to have at least one dress (or scarf) that could represent at least 10 years of the 500 years that we’ve been dealing with this, to kind of give a visual impact. It’s a spiritual thing to use red dresses because it’s a color the spirits can see, to show them that we still love them, where home is and where their loved ones are.”
The event was respectful and introspective, said Marshal, and full of facts to help people understand why MMIWG2S+ is a national issue.
“People don’t understand why this is a problem, even when we put out stats like 10,000 Indigenous people go missing every year and 8,000 of those are children. It’s truly heartbreaking.”
Marshal said the goal is to improve awareness for IISAN’s annual event and improve the attendance. About 10 people participated in their first Honoring MMIWG2S+ and they want more next year. Dozens more. Hundreds more.
“The inspiration to do it on the Trans Canada Trail was that it connects all of Canada and this issue connects coast to coast.”
IISAN is aiming to host events in each of the three main urban centers in Oxford County, which means Woodstock is on the radar to launch a future event. Follow the IISAN Facebook page to learn more.
“IISAN has been trying very hard to make sure we are doing what we can in our community to help make sure people understand what has happened, what is happening, and what they can do to help solve it.”
The next March for Truth and Reconciliation in Ingersoll is Sept. 30, 2023. IISAN will also be at the June 17 Oxford Family Pride Day event in Woodstock.
– With files from Kelly Geraldine Malone, Canadian Press
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