To coincide with Red Dress Day earlier this month in honour and remembrance of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirited people, Owen Sound District Secondary School Grade 9 Visual Arts students created a poignant exhibit. To support the REDress Project and bring attention to this critically important issue, the students adorned the school’s small courtyard with an installation of red dresses, which was visited and blessed by drumming and songs from the Wabno Kwe Singers of Saugeen First Nation.
On May 5, students visited and participated in the sacred fire ceremony at the Gichi-Name Wiikwedong Reconciliation Garden at Kelso Beach at Nawash Park and toured the M’Wikwedong Indigenous Friendship Centre in Owen Sound. It was an excellent opportunity for students to learn about the importance of advocacy, community connection, and action surrounding contemporary Canadian issues.
This initiative was just one of many examples across Bluewater District School Board of student and staff learning, awareness, and recognition as part of Red Dress Day.