More Than a Red Dress: Keeping Memories Alive

On May 5, red dresses hanging in public spaces served as powerful reminders of the Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit people whose lives were taken too soon and whose stories must never be forgotten.

As someone studying communications and storytelling, this day reminded me that communication is more than creating content. It is about visibility, responsibility, and making space for voices that have historically been ignored or silenced.

Inside some workshop spaces, tables were covered with red fabric, beads, thread, pins, and miniature dress patterns. Some participants worked quietly, focused on each stitch, while others shared conversations and reflections about grief, healing, and remembrance. The atmosphere carried both heaviness and care. Although the workshop centred on loss, it also created space for connection and community.

The miniature pin dress was not only a guide for the Red Dress workshop, but also a personal memorial. For Gerri-Lee Pangman, the beads represented three women close to her: her sister, Jennifer Dawn McPherson, murdered in 2013; her aunt, Jennifer Johnston, lost in 1980; and Myrna Letandre. As Pangman guided participants through the stitching process, she explained that each bead represented a life, a memory, and a continued demand for justice.

"This is how we keep them with us," Pangman said. "Even for those who have never walked with this specific grief but want to share in the healing."

Throughout the workshop, Pangman's guidance extended beyond teaching participants how to stitch miniature dresses. She encouraged reflection and reminded participants that remembrance can also be an act of resistance. Every stitch carried meaning. Every dress represented someone who mattered deeply to their family and community.

The workshop, one of many held across Canada, grew from the REDress Project, an art installation started in 2010 by Métis artist Jaime Black. The project has since evolved into a national movement honouring Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit people (MMIWG2S+).

Empty red dresses displayed in schools, campuses, community centres, and public spaces symbolize both absence and presence — the lives lost, the voices silenced, and the families still searching for justice and accountability.

According to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, Indigenous women and girls in Canada continue to experience disproportionately high rates of violence. In 2019, the inquiry released 231 Calls for Justice, urging governments, institutions, media organizations, and Canadians to address the systemic causes of violence against Indigenous communities.

For many participants, workshops like this offer more than awareness. They provide a place to gather, learn, listen, and honour lives that should never be reduced to statistics. The act of creating something by hand — carefully threading beads, pinning fabric, and stitching tiny dresses together — became deeply personal, even for those attending as allies.

Alissa Hilderbrand, a mixed-media artist, was crafting a miniature dress pin to remember her uncle, whose remains were found near the La Salle River Bridge. Hildebrand says the workshop is a special way she gets healing while beading.

"There is something special about being in this room with these people and knowing that you are not alone. Through every stitch, comfort comes, and the ones we loved and lost are still in our hearts," said Hilderbrand as she carefully stitched in the red beads to the side of the miniature dress.

As a communications student, I left the workshop thinking about the responsibility that comes with storytelling. Media and communication shape public understanding, but they also shape whose voices are amplified and whose experiences are overlooked. Red Dress Day serves as a reminder that ethical storytelling requires listening, respect, and accountability.

The red dresses hanging across communities may appear still, but the stories connected to them continue to move people toward awareness, reflection, and action. Even Vogue Magazine in 2021 reported that Indigenous designers have begun using red in their collections to honor MMIWG2S+. In 2019, a group of designers at Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week showcased red dresses on the runway.

One of them was Métis designer Evan Ducharme, who created a red jersey dress titled The Honor Gown, gathered and draped lightly over a corset base. "I wanted to create something timeless, formidable, and reverential," says Ducharme, who adds that fashion can be a powerful tool to spread important messages.

Through art, storytelling, and collective remembrance, workshops like this ensure that Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit people are not forgotten — and that the calls for justice continue to be heard.