[4] Inspired by the work of Métis artist Jaime Black that would go on to spark the REDress Project, this day draws attention to the more than 1,000 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) in Canada.
[5] The project was started in 2010 after Black displayed an installation at the University of Winnipeg that included a series of empty red dresses to honour and symbolize the lost lives of Indigenous women at the hands of violence.
[6] The origins of this day began with the Walking With Our Sisters – K’omoks where a public memorial art installation had taken place in honour of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.
[8][9][10] In 2016, the first the Red Dress Awareness Campaign and Installation were organised and generated higher volumes of public attention on a national scale in both Canada and the United States.
[12] Students at Cardinal Leger Secondary School, in Brampton, Ontario, paid tribute to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls on May 3, 2017, during an event inspired by Red Dress Day.