Organizer hopes Red Dress Day event will put N.B. cases in 'spotlight'

Luke Beirne · CBC News

· Posted: May 05, 2025 4:30 PM EDT | Last Updated: 6 minutes ago

Natasha Ward of Metepenagiag hopes a section commemoration of Red Dress Day volition punctual radical of missing and murdered Indigenous women from close present successful New Brunswick, including Erin Brooks. 

Ward has organized an lawsuit connected Tuesday successful Saint John astatine the Boys and Girls Club to commemorate the yearly time of remembering missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

Brooks of Sitansisk First Nation, besides known arsenic St. Mary's, has been missing for much than 3 years and her mother Laurie Brooks will be this year's event. Ward said that she "wanted to get Erin's lawsuit backmost successful the spotlight" and "give enactment backmost to Laurie." 

Police person said that Brooks was apt the unfortunate of a homicide. 

"You work astir it, you spot it connected TV, and you know, you consciousness atrocious for these people, but you don't genuinely recognize until you person to spell done it yourself," said Amy Paul, Brooks's sister.

"It is awful."

Brooks, a parent of four, would person celebrated her 40th day this year, said her mother.

When asked astir the case, Ward said it's heart-wrenching "but I conscionable privation her to cognize that we're present to enactment her and we'll beryllium determination with her."

She said the lawsuit "seems similar it's astatine a standstill" truthful she wants to "put her look retired there, enactment the lawsuit retired there," and effort to get it backmost successful the spotlight.

The worth of a life 

"When you spot the reddish dresses hanging successful the trees, it's precise haunting, it catches your attention," Ward said. "It helps to telephone backmost the spirits of our loved ones."  

She besides said the reddish handprint Indigenous women often deterioration connected their faces represents the silencing they encounter. 

Ward was moved to get progressive successful Red Dress Day erstwhile a contention astir missing women erupted successful Manitoba, she said. The provincial authorities and constabulary initially refused to hunt a Winnipeg-area landfill aft learning that a serial slayer whitethorn person dumped the bodies of missing Indigenous women there. 

"Our lives are not enactment astatine the aforesaid worth arsenic others," Ward said. "When the landfill cases came out, it truly affected maine arsenic an Indigenous pistillate to beryllium disregarded similar that and the combat that was enactment retired determination to not hunt for these women was insane," she said. "Mothers were begging to person this landfill search."

When the landfill was searched, the remains of 3 women were found. Buffalo Woman, oregon Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, was an chartless unfortunate until she was identified arsenic Ashlee Shingoose of St. Theresa Point First Nation successful March.

Red Dress Day has been observed connected May 5 since 2010 arsenic a time to honour and retrieve missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people.

Ward said that she wants radical to "get acquainted with the 231 calls to justice" and person a amended knowing of the issues that Indigenous radical face, specified arsenic inter-generational trauma.

These calls for justness are laid retired successful the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls report. The papers outlining the calls for justness is disposable connected the National Inquiry Into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls website.

When the enquiry issued the calls for justice, it included a request for a nationalist enactment program to woody with unit against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQ+ people, and a strategy of yearly reporting connected the plan's progress.

Ward said she organized Tuesday's lawsuit successful Saint John to support the contented connected the beforehand burner. 

"The much that we clasp these consciousness sessions and get the connection retired determination and amended people, the bigger it volition become," she said.