Miywasin Moment: Solidarity in red: MMIWG2S remembered

By JoLynn Parenteau on May 11, 2022.

Naomi St. Paul dances to honour her ancestors and MMIWG2S at Kin Coulee Park on Saturday.--PHOTO BY ROBERT ANDERSON

If solidarity wore a colour this past Saturday, it would be red.

Swaying in the breeze, dozens of red dresses donated by Medicine Hat College hung in trees and along a fenceline in Kin Coulee Park, where a crowd 100-strong gathered to remember missing and murdered friends and relatives.

The REDress Project, created in 2009 by multidisciplinary Métis artist Jaime Black, installs red dresses in art galleries and public spaces across Turtle Island (Native North America) to represent daughters, sisters, mothers, grandmothers and Two-Spirit relatives lost to racialized and gender-based violence. In Canada, Indigenous women, girls and gender-diverse people are kidnapped and killed at a higher rate than any other demographic.

Miywasin Friendship Centre hosted Saturday’s memorial at the bandshell. Siksika Nation’s Sorrel Rider Singers’ Frank Turningrobe Jr. opened with a Blackfoot prayer. Joining him onstage to sing and drum healing songs were band members Darcy Turningrobe, Davis McGilvery and special guests David Restoule ‘Eagle Who Sees Far’ of Medicine Hat College and Ken Turner ‘Stands Beside’ of Miywasin Friendship Centre. Traditional dancers moved through their steps with grace and pride before the audience joined hands in a round dance.

Darcy Turningrobe made an impassioned speech to those gathered.

“We share a fellowship to encourage each other through every dark path, with every trauma. Whenever you need help, don’t feel ashamed. That’s part of our culture to reach out and ask for help.”

Many people gathered had personal stories to share. Marcia Naziel joined the memorial to remember her cousin whose life was taken just last week. Jennifer Bowles wore a red ribbon skirt she made bearing the names of many people who never made it home. In a fringed red shawl and dress, Naomi St. Paul danced to remember a young relative lost fourteen years ago.

“Her picture is still up to this day. It is very sad that we’ve been going through so much anger and pain for many, many years,” shared St. Paul. “The least I could do is give it my best and let the ancestors know that I’ll always be dancing for them.”

Donning beaded ceremonial regalia and traditional jingle dresses, Cree entrepreneur and model Josie Saddleback took the stage alongside Aboriginal Friendship Centre of Calgary’s 2022 Moohkinnstsis Princess, Selena Medicine Shield, each sharing their healing journeys.

Speaking in Cree, Saddleback introduced herself with her spirit name, White Bear Woman. She said it was an honour to use her voice and dance to remember her cousin Demi Jewel Ward, who lost her life in Edmonton at the age of 23. Ward’s spirit name was ‘When the Morning Sun Shines, It Touches Everything First’.

“The Jingle Dress Dance is a healing dance. It frees yourself mentally, physically and spiritually. The dance is to pray, and to pray is to heal,” explained Saddleback. “I found my way back to myself and became the woman I am now; strong, resilient, a warrior, a leader.”

“One of my greatest achievements is being able to use my platform to honour missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, in memory of my late grandmother Gloria, who was murdered in 1999,” shared Medicine Shield. “As Miss AFCC Moohkinnstsis, I will continue creating awareness, educating about (MMIWG) and addressing this issue as a voice for all Indigenous women and girls.”

The Miywasin Singers were on hand to sing the Strong Woman Song, an Anishinaabe drum song performed to “encourage all who hear it to be the light in the face of despair, to find courage when you are challenged, to be the change the world needs, and know you are capable of anything you set your hearts and mind to, especially when we are united,” this writer told the assembled crowd. “Today we sing for our lost sisters on their journey home to Creator and to give hope to those still here.”

Community partner agencies Be YOUth Centre, Canadian Mental Health Association, McMan Youth Family Community Services, Medicine Hat Women’s Shelter Society, Sanare Centre and others were on hand to offer resources for grief and trauma support. Clad in red t-shirts, South Country Co-op team members distributed snacks and bottled water to all in attendance.

“We’re coming here together for healing, for the individuals and families impacted as well as to empower the next seven generations,” said Miywasin’s Carol Syrette. “It’s very visually impactful to see the red dresses hanging in the trees. It’s an emotional reaction to think that stands for somebody who is no longer with us.”

“We believe that we’re all one. We pray together, dance together, sing together and grieve together, and speak for good things together,” said Darcy Turningrobe. “We are going to be stronger than ever, our people.”