National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ Peoples

May 5 is the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ Peoples (MMIWG2S+). Also known as Red Dress Day, May 5 is a day of remembrance and activism honouring the lives of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ Peoples.

Described as "a presence through the marking of absence," Red Dress Day can be traced back to a powerful installation art project by Canadian Métis artist Jaime Black. The installation which first took place in 2010 was “an aesthetic response to a critical national issue.”

As noted on Jaime Black's website, "The project has been installed in public spaces throughout Canada and the United States as a visual reminder of the staggering number of women who are no longer with us." This year, in an effort to honour the day and carry on Black’s message, the London Arts Council in partnership with the City of London Culture Services have installed a red dress created by Joanne Powless (commissioned in 2026) and two red skirts created by Kathleen Doxtator (commissioned in 2025) in the windows of London City Hall (300 Dufferin Ave). These pieces are part of a growing collection which started with Kathleen Doxtator's red skirts last year to acknowledge the many missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ peoples across Turtle Island, and the ongoing calls for support.

                     Click through the installation photos by using the arrows on the right and left.

Joanne Powless - Tewatsitsyanek^lus

This work is offered in a good way to honour and bring awareness to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women through the creation of an Oneida Haudenosaunee traditional style dress, the Red Dress.

I have spent many years within our communities as a teacher and facilitator, sharing the importance of Oneida language and cultural teachings with our youth. This work comes from that lifelong responsibility. It is also carried by deep sorrow for two of my former students who lost their lives to MMIW. I hold them in my heart and carry them with me in this work, with love, respect, and remembrance.

The dress reflects Oneida women through the rip dress style, a form that has been carried by our people for generations. This style has been documented since the 1800s and is recognized as a Haudenosaunee form that carries identity, strength, and continuity. This way of making is more than a technique. It is knowledge, memory, and identity passed from one generation to the next. The fabric is chosen with intention and marked with gold speckles to represent the stars, those who now shine above us. In our way of knowing, those who have gone on continue to shine and remain with us. They are not forgotten. They are carried, remembered, and honoured.

This Red Dress holds space for all of our women, our mothers, aunties, sisters, daughters, and relatives. It speaks to our responsibility to remember them and to honour their lives. We will always hold a special space for them in our hearts as we walk our path of life here on Mother Earth. This work creates space for honouring, for grief, and for connection. It holds memory, story, and presence, grounded in our responsibility to remember and to care for one another.

In loving memory and honour: Amelia Nicholas and Serenity Brown

Kathleen Doxtator - Red Dress Project - Two Red Skirts

Kathleen Doxtator’s work as an artist, educator and community advocate centres Indigenous resilience, culture, and storytelling. She creates handmade ribbon skirts, beadwork, buttons, and wearable art that honour ancestral traditions while uplifting contemporary Indigenous voices, through her business Guided by Our Gifts.

"I created these skirts to be simple, yet powerful – because that’s what Red Dress Day means to me. On May 5th, we show up in red to honour and stand with Indigenous women, girls, Two-Spirit, and gender-diverse people who are disproportionately affected by violence. These skirts are my way of showing up—with love, resistance, and remembrance stitched into every seam."