Red Dress Day originally started as the REDdress art installation, created by Jaime Black. Since then, Red Dress Day became a grassroots movement across North America. Red dresses are intentionally hung in public spaces to raise awareness of “[the] critical national issue” that Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirt People are 12 times more likely to be murdered or go missing than other women in Canada.

Reports such as the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Call to Action and the 2019, MMIWG Final Report: Reclaiming Power and Place outlined the importance of awareness and education regarding Indigenous issues. From British Columbia to Alberta, across Canada and now North America wide, organizations and municipalities observe May 5th as Red Dress Day.

The National Inquiry’s Final Report reveals that persistent and deliberate human and Indigenous rights violations and abuses are the root cause behind Canada’s staggering rates of violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people. The two volume report calls for transformative legal and social changes to resolve the crisis that has devastated Indigenous communities across the country.