Waterloo Region marks Red Dress Day with ceremonies and calls for change

Red Dress Day was marked with a walk in Kitchener for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. CTV’s Ashley Bacon has more.

Community members gathered in Kitchener on Monday for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Day Walk.

The national day of remembrance honours women, girls and Two-Spirit people who never made it home. Red paint and dresses are two of the symbols used to represent the loss and bloodshed experienced by Indigenous communities.

Serena Wesley, program manager at The Healing of the Seven Generations in Kitchener, and her two nieces were among those who painted red hands over their mouths, which represents being silenced.

Wesley’s mother was murdered when she was only nine years old.

“I talk about the story every year, but if you were to look up her story online, you would not find anything about her,” she said.

Wesley participated in Monday’s walk along with her two nieces, 11-year-old Alianna and 9-year-old Mackenzie.

She said it is important for the girls to know the problem hasn’t gone away.

“There is a higher percentage of [women and girls] going missing themselves or something happened to them, just being Indigenous,” Wesley explained.

Chris Larocque, who also attended Monday’s walk, stressed the importance of speaking out.

“We have to be more noticeable, we have to start banging our drums,” Larocque said.

Memorials were also set up on the front lawn of The Healing of the Seven Generations, honouring some of thousands who lost their lives or were never heard from again.

“A lot of our Indigenous brothers and sisters are still missing and we need to bring them home,” Larocque said.

“We try to bring awareness to make sure that our voices are heard, and the people that are still missing and or unknown, hopefully get a voice and that we can help find them,” Wesley added.