Commemorating Red Dress Day in Edmonton

By Terry Lusty, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

(ANNews) – May 5th is respected as the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQi+ people.  It is also known as Red Dress Day and is a dedicated day of remembrance, activism, and education honouring the lives lost to this ongoing crisis.

All across Canada there are memorial walks and tributes for Indigenous relatives who have gone missing, faced violence, or were murdered.

On this past May 5th there were two locations in Edmonton where special ceremonies or walks transpired. The downtown core of the city hosted a gathering and memorial at Beaver Hills Park, located along Jasper Avenue at 105th Street.

Hundreds of participants, as well as victims and family members gathered at the park during the noon hour. They arrived in ribbon skirts, ribbon shirts, red dresses and red skirts or sweaters in honour of those violated in any of a number of ways.

In its early years, beginning in the spring of 2007, the Stolen Sisters Movement in Alberta – started in Edmonton by April Eve Wiberg – held events to raise awareness of MMIW. That grew to later include 2SLGBTQ, men, boys, and people of Indigenous ancestry.

Today these memorials are widespread all across the country.

And so it was on Monday, May 5th, 2026, that hundreds of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people struck out with walkers at approximately 1:00 p.m. in Edmonton’s downtown area. Still others gathered for a similar function along 118th Ave at 92 Street.

Prior to the departure from Beaver Hills Park, five drummers mounted a hilly area of the park and sang an honour song to the accompaniment of rawhide hand drums.

Attired in their red dresses and/or ribbon skirts and shirts, the walkers made their way south, along 107th Street, and down to the Alberta Legislative Building, holding signs, singing Indigenous Warriors’ Songs, and/or carrying or wearing red dresses. Upon arriving at the Legislative Building, the names of missing and murdered people were said aloud. Some of the walkers spoke publicly about how they lost relatives and friends, while demanding improvements in the justice system to better address the disproportionate numbers of those missing, murdered, or violated.

The walkers then returned to Beaver Hills Park where they were treated to snacks and beverages. There, they also mingled and consoled one another, offering their moral and loving support to those impacted by the trauma they continue to live with.