Red Dress Day: Honouring, Learning, and Committing to Action

On Tuesday, May 5, the Lakefield College School community came together to observe Red Dress Day, a national day of remembrance, awareness, and reflection dedicated to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit+ (MMIWG2S+) people.

Across campus, red dresses were hung in trees and windows by the DEI Club, creating a powerful visual reminder of absence and loss. The installations invited students and staff to pause and reflect on the lives represented, and the ongoing calls for justice from Indigenous communities across Canada and beyond.

Red Dress Day is inspired by Métis artist Jaime Black’s The REDress Project, which began in 2010. Black used empty red dresses as symbolic representations of stolen lives—each dress marking an individual, a story, and a life interrupted. The colour red was chosen for its significance as both a representation of life and spirit, and as a stark reminder of violence endured. Together, these displays serve as a public call to acknowledge the disproportionate rates of violence experienced by Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people.

In the Dining Hall, students and staff shared a special lunch featuring rainbow trout, wild rice, and a Three Sisters salad, recognizing Indigenous food traditions and offering a moment for quiet reflection and connection.

The day’s learning also extended into Chapel, where members of the Community and Connect Class (CCC)—Molly ’26, Lexi ’26, and Lily ’26—delivered a land acknowledgement and special presentation. Their words invited the community to reflect on both the history and ongoing impacts of colonial systems, and the responsibility we all share in working toward justice.

As part of their presentation, students highlighted the systemic nature of violence against Indigenous women and girls, noting that it is deeply rooted in broader social inequities and intergenerational impacts of Residential Schools, the Sixties Scoop, and forced relocation. They also shared research illustrating the disproportionate rates of violence faced by Indigenous women globally and the barriers that often exist in responding to cases of missing and murdered individuals.

In Chapel, the community heard the following land acknowledgement:

"Today, we acknowledge that Lakefield College School is located on the Treaty 20 territory and the traditional lands of the Michi Saagiig and Chippewa Nations. These Nations have lived in relationship with this land since time immemorial, and we honour their continued presence and stewardship. As we gather on these lands, we recognize the national crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People. This violence is not random. It is rooted in colonial systems and ongoing inequalities that continue to marginalize and harm Indigenous communities across Canada. Today, we honour the lives of those who are missing, and those who have been taken. As a school, we commit to learning their names, listening to their stories, and supporting the movements for justice and change led by Indigenous people. As students, we commit to using our voices, our questions, and our compassion to help make this community—and this country—more just. May this day remind us of our shared responsibility: to listen, to learn, and to act."

 

As the day concluded, the LCS community was reminded that awareness must lead to responsibility. Honouring the lives represented by the red dresses means continuing to learn, to listen, and to act in ways that support lasting change.