Elementary school girls lead Red Dress Walk in Cape Breton

Events were held to mark Red Dress Day in Cape Breton – and honour missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.

Some of Eskasoni First Nation‘s youngest girls got the afternoon off school Monday to learn more about a dark chapter in their people’s past and present.

“We’re here to walk in memory of the Mi’kmaq missing and murdered,’ said Elaine Denny, principal at Eskasoni’s Mi’kmaq Immersion School.

The Red Dress Walk around Goat Island in Eskasoni - Nova Scotia’s largest Mi’kmaq community - was led by the school’s Grade Four drum girls. Despite their participation, the gravity of the day may have been difficult for the young children to fully grasp.

“Imagine from an educator’s standpoint trying to explain that to a little child,” said Calvin Stevens, a participant in the walk.

Red Dress walks are held across the country every year on May 5. Some of the grownups on hand in Eskasoni said the walks raise awareness among Indigenous youth - and everyone - about the complex systemic issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

“The stronger your foundation is, the better you are prepared to help your people when you’re older and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” Stevens said.

Red Dress walks have included the families of young Mi’kmaq women who lost their lives in recent years.

Despite these tragedies close to home, some in Eskasoni were optimistic things might be better by the time the young girls who were participating in the walk grow up.

“Oh, definitely it will be a safer world,” Stevens said.

“I think if you have more awareness, it will get better someday,” Denny added.

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