On May 5, Red Dress Day returned after an absence in 2020 due to the pandemic. An event to honour missing and murdered Indigenous people, Red Dress Day was organized by the Bear Clan Patrol Edmonton Beaver Hills House and supported by Water Warriors YEG.

Marchers gathered in Churchill Square and headed west on Jasper Avenue to Amiskwaskahegan – Beaver Hills House Park for cultural performances and to hear family members speak of their missing and murdered loved ones.

In the weeks leading up to Red Dress Day, a grassroots group of women were sewing ribbon skirts at St. Faith’s Anglicam Church to be presented to families of the missing and murdered.

One of the women, Rachel Manichoose, had previously sewed 10 skirts representing her familial line. Manichoose, who lives in the area, decided to pursue sewing skirts for families of the missing and murdered in honour of her grandmother who was murdered, and after whom she is named.

Due to COVID-19, the giving of the skirts to the families will happen at a later date.