RED DRESSES FLUTTER IN HONOUR OF MMIWG

The white birch tree in Flora and Michael Riley's front yard was adorned with red dresses of all sizes Sunday, May 8, as friends and family gathered to remember missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

Members of the Lanark Drum Circle helped to mark the fifth anniversary of Flora Riley's Red Dress Project, in song and in spirit, as messages of hope and love were shared.

There were more than 30 people in attendance.

"Thank you all for coming," Flora told those gathered. "We can't ever forget our missing sisters."

Guests were asked to hang dresses that Flora has collected over years. The special red lacy dress went up first to remember Daphne Brown.

Flora shared her sister's tragic story — which Michael read aloud. Guests wiped away tears and showed strength in solidarity and song following the reading.

The Red Dress Project was started in 2010 as an awareness campaign by Métis artist Jaime Black whose mission was to collect 500 red dresses for an art installation project to bring awareness of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

From her website: "The REDress Project focuses (on) the issue of missing or murdered Aboriginal women across Canada. It is an installation art project based on an esthetic response to this critical national issue. The project has been installed in public spaces throughout Canada and the United States as a visual reminder of the staggering number of women who are no longer with us. Through the installation, I hope to draw attention to the gendered and racialized nature of violent crimes against Aboriginal women and to evoke a presence through the marking of absence."

Flora said following the event, that she wanted to have it earlier in the day so those attending could get home to their own families and celebrate Mother's Day. "Mothers are important," she said. "They are the life givers."

Flora added she'll leave the dresses up for a couple days — depending on the weather.

"I like to just come out here, look at them and listen to the quiet," she said, adding sometimes, even without the slightest of breeze, those red dresses will flutter as if to say, "we're here, and we thank you for remembering us."