On Red Dress Day, a somber occasion meant to honour missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, one survivor is now working to raise awareness for fellow victims.
At 18 years old, Shailla Manitowabie-Cooke vanished for weeks.
“I went missing in 2012 and I was trafficked in the sex trade,” shared Manitowabie-Cooke, now a survivor and advocate.
When she returned, she initially kept quiet about the abuse she suffered while missing. “It was deeply traumatizing and I just knew I couldn’t stay silent about it.”
Now, Manitowabie-Cooke shares her story to bring awareness to the epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, so survivors know they are not alone.
Events like Red Dress Day help her channel her advocacy.
Red Dress Day started as an art installation over 15 years ago by Metis artist Jamie Black-Morsette.
“The red dress is just a way of harnessing that and visually representing that power that we are bringing together as well as showing care and mourning for those we’ve lost,” shared Black-Morsette.
The movement has grown into the National Day of Awareness and Remembrance for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit.
The day of action and solidarity has been marked in Canada on May 5 since 2019.
“I heard from different Elders, different meanings of the color red, one of them is that red is the only color that the spirits can see,” shared Black-Morsette.
Each red dress symbolizes someone who is missed and who is loved as those absences leave a hole in the hearts of their families and communities.
Sankofa Square in downtown Toronto was filled Tuesday with red dresses, song, and community honour victims, support families and survivors, and highlight the ongoing violence suffered by Indigenous peoples in Canada.
“Hopefully the red dresses, the exhibit, draws people, encourages them to ask questions, understand how important May 5 is for the Indigenous community,” shared Monica McKay with Toronto Metropolitan University’s Indigenous Initiatives.
Some come to mourn, some come to show they survived, and some come to learn while some support those who are still looking for a lost sister, mother or daughter.
“Women in our culture, she’s the matriarch, she’s the caregiver she’s the grandmother, the aunties that takes care of the family and now it’s our turn to take care of the women that passed on,” shared attendee Charlotte Tookenay.
Families continue to look for their lost loved ones as survivors work toward justice.
“I think it’s hard for people to even fathom the type of abuse, that a lot of our women go through,” shared Manitowabie-Cooke
The crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls remains ongoing with advocates saying real action needs to go beyond the symbolic red dresses.
