They Never Came Home: Fort McMurray Remembers MMIWG2S

Red Dress Day, May 5, 2025

Red Dresses Mark a National Tragedy in Fort McMurray

The red dresses adorned Tipis, signs, and cars in and around kiyām Community Park, standing as silent witnesses to a grief that stretches across generations. Residents gathered once again in Fort McMurray to mark Red Dress Day, the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people.

The morning began with a pipe ceremony and continued with prayers and reflections. A solemn march followed, moving through the downtown streets in unity and remembrance. Though the voices of community leaders have faded, the weight of their messages lingers.

Each year, May 5 serves as a reminder of lives stolen and stories silenced. The red dresses, coined by Métis artist Jaime Black as “an aesthetic response” to the crisis, now symbolize a movement that seeks truth, healing, and justice.

The crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people is not only historical but ongoing. Rooted in the lasting impacts of colonization, it leaves no corner of Indigenous life untouched. More than sixty percent of Indigenous women in Canada have experienced physical or sexual assault in their lifetime. The consequences ripple into health care, community safety, and generational wellness.

Red Dress Day began in 2010 and has become a national day of remembrance and resistance. It aligns with many of the calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and calls to justice from the National Inquiry into MMIWG.

In Fort McMurray, the community gathered not only to honour the lost but to stand with families still waiting for answers. The day closed with a round dance in the park, a symbol of both mourning and resilience.

Across Canada, the red dress is a call to action. To wear red. To listen. To never forget.

For those in distress, help is available 24 hours a day through the Hope for Wellness Help Line at 1-855-242-3310, Crisis Services Canada at 9-8-8, or the National Family and Survivors Circle at 1-844-413-6649.