ATHABASCA — Artists and artisans with the Athabasca Pottery Club collaborated with the Athabasca Native Friendship Centre (ANFC) to commemorate the 15th annual Red Dress Day on May 5 to pay respect and remember the lives of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two Spirit Plus People (MMIWG2S+) across the country.
Using locally harvested clay as always, potters came together to collaboratively create unique red dress ornaments, magnets and pins as symbols of the countless lost, but not forgotten, Indigenous lives.
“I’m just so grateful that we’re able to have this partnership and continue on with this partnership,” said Kendra Pritchard, interim executive director at ANFC. “Hopefully that will encourage more people to come into our centre and learn, because that’s what we are for; we’re here for reconciliation and having that understanding between non-Indigenous and Indigenous folk, that is all that we’re asking.
“And to never forget — never forget these wonderful people that are our relatives, our friends, our brothers and sisters that have been lost.”
Pottery club president Nancy Parker and member Amber Rosborough delivered the ornaments of all shapes, sizes, and shades of red to the Friendship Centre on the morning of May 5, ahead of the centre’s planned lunch and community reflection time.
“This day is first remembrance, and second to say, ‘Let’s stop this’, let’s bring these up and say ‘no more.’ There shouldn’t have to be a day that commemorates this kind of devastation, for all communities. We are all touched by this,” said Parker.
“We are taking from the earth to create; it is that reflection that we all have a place in making a better place for everybody.”
Red Dress Day was borne out of a project by Métis artist Jaime Black in 2010, who hung red dresses — the only colour spirits can see in many Indigenous cultures — to call back the essence of the Indigenous women, girls, and gender-diverse people whose lives were taken, often without any answers.
“The Red Dress is a powerful symbol of the lives lost and the ongoing violence facing Indigenous communities,” said Pritchard in a follow-up, calling the show of community support in Athabasca this year a powerful one.
“May 5th is a day to reflect, raise awareness, and stand together in hope and solidarity, with the shared goal of ending this violence. Each dress represents an individual. Each dress represents a name never forgotten.”
Rosborough said the process of creating the ornaments by rolling out slabs of clay and cutting out each individual ornament shape led to reflection on what the day, the MMIWG2S+ movement, and the devastating losses that shaped them both mean.
“It was a big group of women who were all together, talking and enjoying the space with each other,” said Rosborough. “Everyone would be cutting out different shapes, decorating dresses, coming up with their own unique choices for how to decorate them. It was definitely a community experience — it was women working together to commemorate this challenging day.”
Those who visited ANFC on Red Dress Day to share and listen to stories over a bowl of chili had first pick of the batch, and the ornaments will be available for purchase by donation at the centre while supplies last.
All proceeds from the sale will be donated to the Native Women’s Association of Canada, a grassroots Indigenous-led organization advocating for First Nation, Métis and Inuit girls and women since 1974.
“They do a lot of advocacy work and education and they send out resources that the public has access to. Having that connection between the Friendship Centre and the pottery club, and bringing everyone together towards a common cause, that’s really what’s going to speak loud for those that have been silenced,” said Pritchard.
While the number of commemorative ornaments available are limited, both Pritchard and Parker expressed hope the two organizations can continue to collaborate and create new ties across the community in the future.
“The mission of the Friendship Centre is that we’re building friendships, we’re building partnerships, all toward a common goal, and that’s reconciliation,” said Pritchard.
