'Come together': Families, survivors remember the missing and murdered on Red Dress Day in Alberta
Events were held across Alberta on Sunday marking Red Dress Day to honour the memory of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
The fourth annual Mohkinstsis MMEIP (Missing, Murdered, and Exploited Indigenous Peoples) Red Dress/Ribbon/Shirt Gathering was held in Calgary on Sunday.
Survivors and families gathered at the “Field of Red Ribbons” – located on the corner of Memorial Drive and Centre Street.
“We put up all these dresses and all the ribbons on the trees, and they all represent our people that are missing and murdered,” Sterling Green, a co-organizer of the event, said.
The event is held each year on Red Dress Day and focuses on honouring the families affected by the deaths of Indigenous people.
“This is a day for us to put down our signs and lower our voices and to just come together and celebrate the lives of those who we have lost, our mothers, our aunts, our sisters, our best friends, and most importantly, also the men in our lives, our brothers, our uncle's, our friends,” Hayley Starlight, who attended the walk, said.
Starlight’s cousin, Colton Crowshoe, was killed in 2014. This July will mark 10 years since his death.
“For the last 10 years, this trauma has impacted me mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and most importantly, physically,” Starlight said.
Wiley Su Provost pleaded guilty to manslaughter in Crowshoe’s death in 2023.
‘She’s never forgotten’
A walk was also held in Edmonton, where families, survivors and supporters walked down Jasper Avenue to remember the ones they’ve lost.
Donna Robillard, whose daughter, Carolann Robillard, and granddaughter, Sara (Jayden) Miller, were killed last year, was at the walk with her family.
The 35-year-old mother and her 11-year-old daughter died on May 5, 2023.
“Today is their anniversary,” Robillard said.
Robillard was surrounded by several family members at the event, who were all there to remember Carolann and Sara.
“I know I’m going to have some tears, and we’re all going to have some tears,” she said.
“Well we’re a big family and we’re there for each other and we’ve got a lot of support.”
Tanisha Miller, Carolanne’s daughter, said her mother and sister being gone still doesn’t feel real.
“It feels like they’re still at home, could still call them,” she said.
She described her sister and mother as adventurous people.
“They loved to go out on adventures and just explore, go on walks. They were just so full of life,” she said.
Judith Gale, the leader of the Bear Claw Beaver Hills House, an Indigenous-led community organization in Edmonton, said all Indigenous people share a similar story and lived experience.
“It’s a day that we cherish deeply as it’s a day for national awareness for missing and murdered exploited Indigenous peoples, two-spirited men, boys,” Gale said.
“It affects every Indigenous person on Turtle Island today. It’s an ongoing genocide that we would like to stop.”
Gale said she was walking to remember her sister, who was murdered in Montreal when she was 16 years old.
“Today I call her spirit to us to let her know that she’s never forgotten,” she said.
With files from CTV News Calgary’s Tyler Barrow and CTV News Edmonton’s Miriam Valdes-Carletti
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6976926.1721883767!/httpImage/image.png_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.png)
LIVE UPDATES Critical infrastructure 'successfully protected': Jasper park officials
Jasper National Park officials in an update said all critical infrastructure in the townsite has been 'successfully protected, including the hospital, emergency services building, both elementary and junior/senior schools, activity centre and wastewater treatment plant.'
Canadian Olympic Committee removes women's soccer team's head coach over drone scandal
The Canadian Olympic Committee has removed women's national soccer team head coach Bev Priestman over a drone scandal, according to a press release from the organization.
Yukon woman narrowly escapes bear attack, credits hair clip
A woman in Yukon believes her hair clip helped save her during a bear attack.
Prince William's 2023 salary revealed in new report
Newly released financial reports show that William, the Prince of Wales, drew a salary of $42.1 million last fiscal year, his first since inheriting the vast and lucrative Duchy of Cornwall.
'I was just shocked': Jasper lodge owner on seeing property destroyed by wildfire
On Wednesday night, the owner of Maligne Lodge in Jasper, Alta., was shocked to receive a photo of her business engulfed in flames.
Mary-Ellen Turpel-Lafond likely has Indigenous DNA: report
The Law Society of British Columbia says a DNA test shows a former judge and Order of Canada recipient accused of falsely claiming to be Cree "most likely" has Indigenous heritage.
U.S. authorities have arrested 'El Mayo' Zambada, a historic leader of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel
Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, a historic leader of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, a son of another infamous cartel leader, were arrested by U.S. authorities in Texas on Thursday, the U.S. Justice Department said.
Harris pushes Netanyahu to ease suffering in Gaza: 'I will not be silent'
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday to help reach a Gaza ceasefire deal that would ease the suffering of Palestinian civilians, striking a tougher tone than President Joe Biden.
'She led it the whole way': 18-year-old B.C. woman leads hikers to safety in Jasper National Park
As fire threatened people in Jasper National Park, Colleen Knull sprung into action.