Indigenous community finds strength in being together on Red Dress Day – Brandon Sun

May. 6, 2024

Indigenous people who marched and held a ceremony in downtown Brandon Sunday afternoon to honour the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirited people say they found strength in the gathering.

The march began at Brandon City Hall and ended with a drum performance, food, and smudging. Members of the Indigenous community were invited to share their own experiences with the gathered group. They sang, they drummed, and they prayed together. Alexis Cinq-Mars, a Selkirk Red River Métis woman, helped organize the march.

“Indigenous women are six times more likely to end up dead in Canada, and three times more likely to encounter violence in their lifetime. But in my opinion, those numbers are highly underestimated,” Cinq-Mars said, referencing a Statistics Canada study released last fall.

“I personally have not met a woman who has not encountered violence in their life.”

Read More: https://www.brandonsun.com/local/2024/05/06/indigenous-community-finds-strength-in-being-together-on-red-dress-day