Red Dress Project creator Jaime Black was at Laurentian University on Feb. 15 as the REDress Project launched in Greater Sudbury. Red dresses may be seen all along the route leading up the road toward campus.
"The university has taken on this project as a community and really used the artwork as a way to get people talking and thinking about missing Indigenous women and girls across Canada," said Black.
The campaign began in 2010 as an initiative to draw attention to the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in Canada.
"I feel like as an artist there's the potential to have our voices heard through art in the community," Black said, "I feel like public art and these dresses have a way of grabbing people's attention where otherwise, a lot of these stories remain unheard and unseen."
Jijak Awenesh Wii Aajim Waabun, of the Crane Clan, and a member of the Grandmother's Council at the Gathering of Clans said she came to hear stories. For her, hope for the future may be found in the reclamation of clan governance and cultural teachings within communities.
"What I have been told by elders from all directions is that we need to remember our teachings. We need to carry ourselves in that sacred way," she began. "As our nation wakes up, it will be us who decides what kind of justice system we want. I believe we need — and this is another message that has been brought from all those directions — to reconcile ourselves, first."
For Jijak Awenesh Wii Aajim Waabun, this process is for the benefit of the next generation.
"It's about belonging. It's about being proud of who we are," she said.
Many of the stories shared during the opening of the installation focused on traditional teachings and sharing. A feast was held mid-day, and the dresses can still be seen at Laurentian.
