ST. THERESA POINT FIRST NATION A northern Manitoba First Nation is hosting its first-ever Red Dress Day event Monday in honor of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG), including one of their own recently identified as a victim of a Winnipeg serial killer.
Ashlee Shingoose, a young woman from St. Theresa Point, was confirmed in March as one of the victims. She was given the spirit name Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, meaning Buffalo Woman, by the community. Police believe she was killed in March 2022.
Students and community members gather at the local school to hear speeches, light candles, and participate in a spirit dance and buffalo call, a ceremonial act to release collective pain. Over 1,200 students will join in a community walk to honor Shingoose and other women, including Precious Pascal, Theresa Robinson, Kathleen Wood, Annie Little, Tammy Nattaway, Charlotte Wood, and Andrea Harper.
“We’re not going to shy away from how much it hurts. We’re going to do our best to challenge and contribute to the solution,” said McDougall, a mental health advocate at the school.
Workshops in recent weeks have helped community members make red dresses and skirts for the occasion. McDougall also spoke directly with students about the risks Indigenous youth face and the importance of protecting one another. “It’s a hard fact to state and explain to children, but they are getting older, and we have to prepare them to be warriors,” she said.
The event comes as Manitoba begins development of the Red Dress Alert system, a new initiative aimed at notifying the public when Indigenous women or girls go missing. The pilot, led by Giganawenimaanaanig and funded with $1.3 million from the federal government, is in its early stages. The team has held over 20 consultations and plans to release an interim report in June.
Meanwhile, a new Indigenous women’s safety unit was announced in Winnipeg last week, along with an endowment fund to support MMIWG2S+ families and Indigenous-led initiatives.
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