1. Community, Culture & Heritage
  2. Cultural Diversity
  3. Indigenous Initiatives
  4. Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit People

Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit People

Red Dress Day (May 5)

red dresses on display

Red Dress Day is a National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two Spirit persons. IWG2S persons are at a greater risk of abuse and violence due to factors beyond their control: gender, cultural heritage, gender identity, poverty, colonialism.

In recognition of Red Dress Day (May 5), we invite all community members to recognize Red Dress Day on May 5 and honour Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two Spirit peoples. We have several events that are taking place on May 5, 2025:

Knowledge Sharing 
  • 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. at COSMO CIVIC CENTRE, 3130 Laurier Drive

Focused on prevention, we will host a Knowledge Sharing that includes information booths, speakers and art activities hosted by Remai Modern. We’ll focus on building capacity within our city’s communities to prevent and ultimately eliminate the violence that Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two Spirit individuals face in everyday life. Information booths will focus on raising awareness around safety, domestic violence, human trafficking and its risk factors, and current community supports.

There will be a program from 11am – 12pm, as well as bagged lunches and snacks. Download the information package in the "Related Documents" section of this page to host a booth!

Training Active Bystanders 
  • 12:30 p.m.- 2:30 p.m. at COSMO CIVIC CENTRE, 3130 Laurier Drive

Gain tools for responsible intervention and support those in need while avoiding complicity through inaction. Empower yourself to recognize your role as a bystander, assess situations, and make a meaningful impact on those around you. TAB provides essential skills to overcome barriers and cultivate a culture of active bystandership, demonstrating courage in your actions. Find out more about Training Active Bystanders at Training Active Bystanders and Quabbin Mediation.

Training will be led by Heather Peters (Peacebuilding Coordinator) and Amanda Dodge (Program Director), Mennonite Central Committee. Questions can be directed to heatherpeters@mccsk.ca  

This session is for individuals, workplace teams, spiritual community members and the general public. Registration is required in advance and is limited to 20 participants, so please sign up early! REGISTER HERE

Red Dress Day Walk 
  • 4:00 p.m. at SASKATOON POLICE HEADQUARTERS, 76 25th Street E

The Red Dress Day Walk will start and end at the Wicanhpi Duta Win/Red Star Woman fancy-dancer statue in front of the Saskatoon Police Service building. That statue and the walk are designed to raise awareness of the ongoing epidemic of violence against Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two Spirit people, to support their families, and honour their lost loved ones.

The route will take approximately an hour and there will be golf cart transportation for anyone for whom walking is a barrier. Questions? Contact dorthea.swiftwolfe@saskatoon.ca 

Get Involved!
  • Share the Facebook event page
  • Register to host a booth at the Knowledge Sharing
  • Sign up for the Training Active Bystanders session
  • Sign up to volunteer with us on Red Dress Day
  • Families of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two Spirit can download an  information package in the "Related Documents" section of this page.
  • Attend a special screening of the film The Red Dress at Remai Modern on Sunday, May 4,  playing on loop from 10:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
    • About the film:
      • Runtime: 27 minutes Country: Canada Rating: N/R
      • Renowned Métis author and screenwriter Maria Campbell explores themes of cultural identity, sexual assault and the familial impact of     colonialism in The Red Dress, echoing the themes of her seminal memoir, Halfbreed.
      • Synopsis: Kelly is a Métis man without treaty or hunting rights, struggling to sustain his traditional life. His daughter Theresa longs for a red dress from France that she believes will give her power and strength, as the bear claw once did for her great-grandfather Muskwa. When Theresa escapes an assault and Kelly turns his back on his daughter, he realizes that he must reconnect with his culture in order to make things right. Today, the red dress is a powerful symbol recognizing missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada. This screening is provided courtesy of the National Film Board of Canada.

 

red dress displayRed Dress Installation – City Hall Lobby

The red dress is a symbol of solidarity with the families of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and Two-Spirit persons. A Red Dress has been installed in the City Hall Lobby to increase awareness of MMIWG2S. When visiting the City Hall Lobby, you can find this display on the wall next to the Customer Care Kiosk.

The plaque reads: This red dress is a tribute to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and Two-Spirit persons (those who identify as having both a masculine and feminine spirit). Indigenous Women and Girls and Two-Spirit persons face disproportionate violence, trauma, and exploitation. This is not an Indigenous issue; it's a community issue. We have a collective responsibility for the safety of every member of our community.

 

 

Creating Safe Spaces for IWG2S

In August 2021, the City of Saskatoon released a report on supporting IWG2S. The report, IWG2S* Coming Home, was developed in response to a directive from City Council to identify options for how the City can respond to the Calls for Justice contained within The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (released by the federal government in 2019).

Proposed Action Plan: The key recommendations contained in the final report, entitled IWG2S – Coming Home, are:

  • Phase 1: Hire an Independent Representative of Matriarchs for IWG2S. That person will coordinate, refer, support, review, evaluate and assess, decide, investigate, and advise.
  • Phase 2: Create an IWG2S Centre to coordinate services that works in tandem with the rest of the City departments and the other agencies offering services to IWG2S.
  • Phase 3: Extend the Role of the Representative of Matriarchs to become an Officer of Transparency and Accountability. ​​

The report emphasizes that the methods of addressing the exploitation of IWG2S people must be developed, instituted, and administered by the matriarchs in the Indigenous community, as was the case traditionally. It's noted that the input heard again and again by the research team, from a range of diverse voices in our community, was “this is not something that can be done for us or about us. It must be led by those from within.”  

Other Key Insights:

  • Our community benefits from the input of IWG2S people but we are fully realizing these benefits. We need to acknowledge the strength and contributions of IWG2S people versus the suffering. For example, dropping “missing and murdered” from references to supports for Indigenous women and girls.
  • We need to recognize that there are IWG2S people that we’re not reaching and will only reach through a new form of intervention.
  • Anti-racism work in our community is also necessary since racism and patriarchy are the root causes of the challenges and barriers to creating a safe and secure community for IWG2S people. 

Next Steps: The report was presented to City Council’s Governance and Priorities Committee on July 19, 2021, where Administration indicated they would conduct an analysis of the recommendation and ways in which the City could approach implementation.
​​​​​The Coming Home report was partially funded by the First Nations and Métis Community Partnership Projects, a program of the Ministry of Government Relations.