Kahnawake marks Red Dress Day
Marcus Bankuti The Eastern Door
Community members gathered at the gazebo outside Kahnawà:ke Shakotiia’takéhnhas Community Services (KSCS) on Tuesday to commemorate Red Dress Day.
While KSCS has previously found other ways to mark the occasion, also known as the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ People (MMIWG2S+), this year’s event gave community members an opportunity to gather in person locally.
“It’s something that we need to talk about. I just want to bring awareness, and I want people to care,” said KSCS prevention worker Christine Taylor, who volunteered to take a lead role in organizing the event as a member of the Family Violence Action Group.
“It’s a very misogynistic world out there, and it’s up to us women to come forward and say enough is enough,” Taylor said.
The Family Violence Action Group was approached by local photographer Ashley Robertson. The idea was inspired by an incident last summer in which many women and girls in the community were harassed and sexualized in a disturbing social media campaign, leading a friend of a friend of Robertson’s to suggest a MMIWG2S+ campaign happen at the time, which Robertson pitched to KSCS.
While they weren’t able to do it at that time, the idea finally came to fruition for Red Dress Day. Robertson put out a callout for a weekend photo shoot for pictures to display at the event, where there was also a large canvas banner on which community members left red handprints, a symbol of MMIWG2S+.
“It feels really great to be able to bring people together and raise awareness for what’s really happening right now,” said Robertson.
Among the participants were Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) chiefs who came individually to show their support.
“This day is really an important day to observe, not only for us, but also for our people across Turtle Island,” said MCK chief Tonya Perron. “It shows that no matter what happens, we’re still here. We’re resilient. We’re not going to stop the fight to make the world a better place for our young ladies, our young girls, our women, our mothers, our wives. It’s just really a day for reflection. It’s important the leadership also show the support for it.”
MCK chief Ross Montour said there are many missing people from Indigenous communities.
“This is a problem across the country, so I’m here to support the day.”
Besides the photo and canvas, there were ribbon skirt, medallion, and moccasin vamp giveaways at the gathering, which took place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Food and refreshments were also available on site.
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KSCS sought to raise awareness at the event about resources available in the community, according to manager of prevention Rebecca D’Amico, with the Peacekeepers and Ionkwatahónhsate Victims Services present. Individuals from organizations like the Kahnawake Fire Brigade also attended.
“It’s really great to see other organizations also supporting events like this and partnering with us to be able to raise awareness,” said D’Amico.
Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
