On Friday afternoon, Mayor Junkin, representatives of Town Council and town staff held a press conference to acknowledge and further explain the REDress installation hanging outside the MCC. Mayor Junkin spoke of the importance of the display and introduced Cheyenne from the Niagara Regional Native Centre who spoke to the importance of remembering missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls and two spirited people and of supporting their families. She ended her talk with a song accompanying herself with a hand drum.

Kathy Shaw, President of CFUW Welland and District Unit spoke of Jaime Black, a Metis visual artist, who, in 2010, created the visual art exhibit hanging red dresses at University of Winnipeg to draw attention to the many, many missing and murdered Indigenous women.

The REDress Display was installed by members of CFUW Welland and District and will hang during the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence outside Pelham’s MCC, a high traffic area where many people coming and going will see the dresses and understand their significance.

CFUW Welland and district wish to thank Mayor Junkin and the Town staff for providing an opportunity to explain the meaning of the installation and for understanding its importance.

16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence – What is #GBV?