St. Mary Marks Red Dress Day
Article submitted by: Tracy Trofimencoff, Teacher-Librarian
Red Dress Day, also known as the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and Two-Spirit People, is observed on May 5th. Each year since 2023, teacher-librarian Tracy Trofimencoff has run an education event in the school library. The event runs three periods of the day and allows students and teachers an opportunity to listen and engage in content that is sometimes heavy, but necessary. This week marked Catholic Education week in our board. Red Dress Day is a good opportunity to live our faith by engaging in Catholic social justice teachings and creating awareness about this difficult topic.
“Red Dress Day was inspired by Métis artist Jaime Black’s REDress Project installation, in which she hung empty, red dresses to represent the missing and murdered women. Red dresses have become symbolic of the crisis as a result of her installation” (Gwiazda). At St. Mary, Trofimencoff puts a call out to all staff for red dresses. This year, she was able to collect twenty dresses and, through the help of art teacher, Melissa Kiely, create a visually stunning installation which will be on display for two weeks.
As a settler, Trofimencoff feels strongly about supporting Indigenous sisters and brothers. Having been trained by the BC Teacher’s Federation in Indigenous content, she feels confident to be able to share this critical information with the students in the school. “I am fortunate to have the support of my administration to deliver library programming that sheds light on this sensitive topic. Students and staff need to know that missing and murdered women, girls, and two-spirited people matter. This day is a privilege for me to share what I have learned and continue to learn with others.”
English teacher Kandice Buryta said, “This is a really important day to have students come together and talk about really difficult issues in a safe space.” Students heard a story, Tess’s Red Dress by Indigenous author Carolyn Roberts, coloured red dresses, viewed a traditional Indigenous dance that highlighted those who have been most affected by this national tragedy and shared their own insights about what this day means for them.
Through the collaborative efforts of educators and the engagement of the student body, Red Dress Day at St. Mary has become more than just an annual event; it is a vital exercise in empathy and social justice. By transforming the library into a space for reflection and learning, the school community ensures that the stories of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit people are not forgotten. As the red dresses hang in the library, they serve as a powerful reminder that acknowledging these difficult truths is a necessary step toward healing. However, the conversation must not end when the dresses are taken down; each of us is called to carry this awareness forward, continuing to educate ourselves and speak out against injustice.
