National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and 2SLGBTQIA+ People (May 5) is a time to honour and remember the thousands of precious people who have been “stolen" from our families and communities.
As First Nations leaders, and on behalf of the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA), we stand today in solemn unity with those who have lost loved ones while extending our deepest condolences. The FNHA collectively supports calls to end violence against First Nations women, girls and 2SLGBTQIA+ People.
Our work includes a focus on uplifting First Nations peoples' voices to reclaim space and power. To that end, we are sharing below the inspirational story of one First Nations woman whose passion project is helping community members heal together after heartbreak.
Jamie Smallboy and the Red Ribbon Skirt Project
Jamie Smallboy is a Nehiyaw Iskwew (Cree woman) from Ermineskin Cree Nation who has made Vancouver her home for the past 15 years. Jamie started the Red Ribbon Skirt Project in 2018 after being deeply moved by the spirit of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) Memorial March, which takes place each year in downtown Vancouver on Feb. 14.
“The drum and the smudge woke up a part of me that had been dormant for so long," says Jamie. “It set my path towards ceremony, where my healing began. I wanted to share what I had learned and experienced when I would return home and reconnect to ceremony."
Jamie had the idea to get volunteers together in a safe space to make and gift 100 red ribbon skirts to MMIWG families. She chose ribbon skirts because they are worn by Indigenous women in many circles of ceremony and cultural events.
“They are a part of the reclamation of pride in our Indigenous identity and in our role as sacred life givers," she says.
Through much hard work, Jamie has made her vision flourish. For the past six years, she and other volunteers – Indigenous and allies – have gathered at the Strathcona Community Centre on weekends to sew the skirts. Each year on the day of the march they hold a ceremonial circle where they gift the skirts to the families.
“Each skirt is made with love and prayers to Creator for the women who receive them, and sewing the skirts together is medicine and ceremony in itself," says Jamie. "This project has a spirit of its own; our ancestors are on the other side nurturing it and helping it grow."
The project is close to Jamie's heart for personal reasons. After being in care from the ages of 11 to 18, she spent five years homeless with a substance use disorder in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, and knew Indigenous women who went missing, or were murdered. Although she had tried treatment centres and learned a lot about addiction, it was only when she reconnected with ceremony that she was able to start healing.
Women from other provinces and across the border have reached out to her, and together they have joined hands to start Red Ribbon Skirt Projects in their own communities.
“My vision is for every community with missing or murdered people to be able to work on this project together," she says. “Not just to show respect and compassion, and to raise awareness about the ongoing violence against Indigenous women and girls, but to share in the spirit of healing and solidarity."
If you would like to volunteer, donate, or ask Jamie about her project, you can email her directly at redribbonskirtproject1245@gmail.com. You can also follow her Facebook page, Red Ribbon Skirt Project Vancouver.
For more information, click on these links:
National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls: https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/final-report/
Films and documentaries: https://www.kairoscanada.org/missing-murdered-indigenous-women-girls/films
Adaawk (A-Dow-ick) is a powerful and moving documentary that gives a glimpse into the lives of loved ones who are missing or murdered along the Highway of Tears.
