A lone red dress symbolizing the cause of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls hangs from a tree on the Skye River Trail on National Indigenous Peoples Day in We'koqma'q First Nation, N.S. on Friday, June 21, 2024. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese)

By CKOM News Staff

Red Dress Day offers opportunities for reflection and learning across Saskatchewan

May 5, 2025 | 9:12 AM

Awareness of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit+ people (MMIWG+) will be raised on May 5, which is known in Saskatchewan and across Canada as Red Dress Day.

A total of 1324 missing alerts of Indigenous people were added in 2024 to Aboriginal Alert’s website and four provinces had greater than 200 missing alerts in 2024 — Manitoba, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario.

While Manitoba had the most missing alerts out of all provinces, Ontario and Saskatchewan have the most missing alerts that are still active, the Indigenous awareness network said.

“Indigenous women make up 16 per cent of all female homicide victims, and 11 per cent of missing women, yet Indigenous people make up only 4.3 per cent of the population of Canada,” says the Assembly of First Nations.

The first Red Dress Day took place in 2014, inspired by the work of Canadian Métis artist Jaime Black.

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Black took hundreds of red dresses and hung them in public places to represent missing and murdered Indigenous women. The art installation turned the red dress into a symbol that represents the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women.

The Government of Saskatchewan wants to remind people that everyone plays a part in ending violence and applications for the MMIWG+ Community Response Fund are open.

Over the years, many people have expressed their support on Red Dress Day by hanging red dresses outside of their homes or wearing articles of clothing or jewelry to commemorate the day.

“Our government is working toward a safer future for all by providing funding opportunities to organizations and grassroots initiatives that empower awareness and safety in Indigenous communities,” said Minister Responsible for First Nations Métis and Northern Affairs, Eric Schmalz.

Among the names of the missing in Saskatchewan is five-year-old Tamara Keepness.

The disappearance of Keepness remains a mystery even 20 years later. After she disappeared from her home in the Regina Heritage neighbourhood in 2004, she hasn’t been seen since.

The Saskatchewan government said interpersonal violence programs will see $31.7 million from the province in 2025-26 in addition to another $3.8 million over two years due to its federal partnership with the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence.

However, interpersonal violence is a broader category including all peoples.

Figures released by Saskatchewan RCMP in November show calls reporting these types of crimes have increased by 13 per cent over the past five years and in 2023 more than half of the violent crimes dealt with by RCMP jurisdiction were related to offences against intimate partners or family members.

“Red Dress Day is meant to draw attention to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls+ and to honour their families,” Justice Minister and Attorney General Tim McLeod said.