A powerful visual was seen last night in Red Deer as more than 200 participants took part in a walk to honour the lives lost as part of Red Dress Day.
This year, almost every Indigenous organization came together and stepped up in the planning of the event.
Indigenous organizations, community members and friends met at the Common Ground Community Garden to begin the event.
A pipe ceremony, held by Elder Corky Larsen-Jonasson, started the evening by calling on the spirits to bless the community and to show those lost the path home.
“In our culture, red is the colour that spirits can see, so often the red is what calls the spirits back, because a lot of the times when they're missing or murdered, when they pass on, they haven't had a proper burial, and so they're just kind of out there, kind of lost. So, when we wear red, we show them the way,” explains Lindsay Beaulieu, the Community Engagement Coordinator with the Urban Indigenous Voices Society (UIVS).
The walk was then led by female Elders carrying a smudge pot of Thunderbird medicine, a combination created by an Elder consisting of sage, sweetgrass and other herbs.
“It's really important to keep that going while we're walking for the spirits,” says Beaulieu about the smudge pot.
The Eagle staff was also at the front of the line and was carried by female Elders, followed by female singers singing the Strong Woman Song, the Grandmother's Song and a Buffalo Song.
Walkers and children made up the middle of the walk, carrying signs of lost loved ones, wearing red clothing and ribbon skirts.
Some walkers had the red hand painted over their mouths as a symbol representing the silencing of the victims.
“It is a powerful statement to show the silence that a lot of these women, men, boys, girls and two-spirit often face,” says Beaulieu about the powerful visual symbol.
The men followed at the back with flags and drums, singing songs that the drummers were gifted.
Even drummers from as far as Frog Lake came out for the event.
Walkers then went down Taylor Drive, over to Safe Harbour, and back to the Common Ground Community Garden for a potluck feast put together by the community.
Beaulieu says about the event: “We have generational strength, we're all part of the medicine wheel, all nations, and my Elders have always taught me that all people come together, so this event's not just for Indigenous people, this is for all of us, and I think that we all can stand together and heal together.”
The day serves as both a remembrance of those lost and a call to action to end the ongoing violence facing Indigenous communities.
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