May 5 is the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. This is an important day, as families and loved ones of women and girls who have been murdered, or are currently missing, remember their sisters, mothers, daughters, aunties, and friends. This day is often called Red Dress Day, in recognition of the Red Dress Project. The following was submitted by SEIU-West member by Freda Weeseekase.
What can I say about red dress? What does red dress mean to me? I know it is different for everybody involved with its meaning but to me red dresses are a reminder. It's an eye opener. It's every emotion all thrown into one. It's a club that no mother, no family member, no friend ever wants to be a part of. You get thrown into it by the loss of a loved one. It's a nightmare you live with your eyes wide open everyday. It's an injustice. An injustice for my daughter Hailey who was taken from her sisters and I on July 11, 2020.
Red dress to me is an awareness. An awareness that is finally coming to light about the truth and happenings of our First Nations women, our First Nations people. My name is Freda. I am a mom and an LPN of a murdered Indigenous woman. I fight a battle for justice who has to remember I do not fight alone.
#justiceforhaileyweeseekase #iwearred #miw #mmiw #mmiwawareness