Image Credit: AFN
RED DRESS DAY

TteS leadership asks people to wear red to honour missing and murdered Indigenous women

May 5, 2021 | 3:53 PM

KAMLOOPS — Tk’emlups te Secwepemc leadership is encouraging people to wear red today to pay their respects to girls and women who have been lost to violent crimes.

May 5 is Red Dress Day, a day of recognition for the many missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada.

In a normal year, there would be in-person memorial events to mark the day, but with gathering restrictions people are asked to show their support by wearing red.

“It’s important to wear red today because it’s really important to more than just acknowledge,” said Kukpi7 Rosanne Casimir. “It’s about remembering and it’s about honouring and it’s about respecting and it’s about supporting each other and the families who have lost loved ones.”

Casimir says she wants to see every level of government working to prevent more loss among Indigenous women and girls.

“It’s something that’s been advocated from Secwepemculw through the BCFN, through the national AFN, right to the federal government,” she said. “We know that at the federal level, yes, there are calls to action, but there really hasn’t been a whole lot of action to basically fulfill some of those steps required to assist in that initiative.”