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A red handprint, usually painted across the mouth, is a symbol that is used to indicate solidarity with Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and girls in North America, in recognition of the fact that Native American women are up to 10 times more likely to be murdered or sexually assaulted. [1] [2] [3]
The athlete Jordan Marie Daniel, a competitive runner from the Kul Wicasa Oyate (Lower Brule Sioux Tribe) in South Dakota, [4] was the first to prominently make use of the symbol at the 2019 Boston Marathon. [5] Daniel dedicated her run in 2019 to 26 missing or murdered Indigenous women. She stated that she wanted to use her platform to bring awareness to the women, so that they were seen, heard, and remembered. [6] It was subsequently worn by athlete Rosalie Fish in 2019, [7] appeared in billboard campaigns, and was used by Ilona Verley, who was a contestant on the reality television show Canada's Drag Race.
Red handprints symbolize silenced voices — the silence and lack of interest given to victimized Indigenous women, many of whom end up missing or murdered. In 2020, Rhiannon Johnson of CBC News reported on the case of Michelle Buckley of Hay River, N.W.T., who wore the red handprint in a photo shoot to honor her sister Rea, who died when she was 14. Buckley stated the aim of the photo shoot was "to raise awareness that missing and murdered Indigenous women is an issue that Indigenous people face, but it also was a form of healing". [8]
Rosalie Fish, a member of the Cowlitz Tribe in Washington and a student-athlete at the Iowa Central Community College, used her national running platform to honor the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous women after being inspired by the use of the symbol by Jordan Marie Daniels. [9] During the state track and field meet Fish dedicated her running medals to missing and murdered Indigenous women, and placed the medals on a poster she made honoring them. The poster had pictures and names of four Indigenous women who had been murdered. [10]
At Ignacio High School, the Bobcats basketball team participated in team photos that honored missing and murdered Indigenous women. In the team photos, each team member and the coach wore a red or a black handprint to show solidarity to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women movement. [11]
In the first season of Canada's Drag Race , the contestant Ilona Verley, who is from the Nlaka'pamux Nation in British Columbia, was the first contestant to identify as two-spirit and as non-binary. For her final presence on Canada’s Drag Race, Verley wore a traditional jingle dress to represent her two-spirit identity and the red handprint to create further awareness towards the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women. Verley was also featured in the Vogue article Indigenous Queen Ilona Verley On Bringing Two-Spirit Representation to Canada’s Drag Race in which she described her experience on Canada’s Drag Race, discussed the lingering impacts of the residential school system, and explained how she wanted to use her new platform to "spread awareness about her roots." [12] She has subsequently used the symbol in social media posts. [13]
At the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2024, indigenous Canadian actor D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai wore a red handprint as a symbol of solidarity with missing and murdered indigenous women. The symbol gained substantial media coverage following the event. [14] [15] [16]
The Native Justice Coalition created a billboard campaign towards the awareness of missing and murdered Indigenous women and Two-spirit people in Grand Haven, Michigan. [17] [18] The billboards consist of an Indigenous woman with a red handprint across their mouth. The billboard was created by Cecilia Lapointe of the Native Justice Coalition. [19]
The Native Women's Association of Canada is a national Indigenous organization representing the political voice of Indigenous women, girls, and gender-diverse people in Canada, inclusive of First Nations on and off reserve, status and non-status, disenfranchised, Métis, and Inuit. An aggregate of Indigenous women's organizations from across the country, NWAC was founded on the collective goal to enhance, promote, and foster the social, economic, cultural and political well-being of Indigenous women within their respective communities and Canadian societies.
The Missing Women Commission of Inquiry was a commission in British Columbia ordered by the Lieutenant Governor in Council on September 27, 2010, to evaluate the response of law enforcement to reports of missing and murdered women. The commission concluded its Inquiry in December 2012, and outlined 63 recommendations to the Provincial government and relevant law enforcement. The Inquiry itself received criticism from various civil society group and Indigenous communities, regarding its investigative structure, as well as, the lack of government action after the Inquiry to fulfill its recommendations.
Two-spirit is a contemporary pan-Indian umbrella term used by some Indigenous North Americans to describe Native people who fulfill a traditional third-gender social role in their communities.
The Women's Memorial March is an annual event which occurs on February 14 in honour of the lives of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) across Canada and the United States. This event is also a protest against class disparity, racism, inequality and violence.
Native American feminism or Native feminism is, at its root, understanding how gender plays an important role in indigenous communities both historically and in modern-day. As well, Native American feminism deconstructs the racial and broader stereotypes of indigenous peoples, gender, sexuality, while also focusing on decolonization and breaking down the patriarchy and pro-capitalist ideology. As a branch of the broader Indigenous feminism, it similarly prioritizes decolonization, indigenous sovereignty, and the empowerment of indigenous women and girls in the context of Native American and First Nations cultural values and priorities, rather than white, mainstream ones. A central and urgent issue for Native feminists is the Missing and murdered Indigenous women crisis.
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW), also known as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) and more broadly as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR) or Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP), are instances of violence against Indigenous women in Canada and the United States, notably those in the First nations in Canada and Native American communities, but also amongst other Indigenous peoples such as in Australia and New Zealand, and the grassroots movement to raise awareness of MMIW through organizing marches; building databases of the missing; holding local community, city council, and tribal council meetings; and conducting domestic violence trainings and other informational sessions for police.
Tina Michelle Fontaine was a First Nations teenage girl who was reported missing and died in August 2014. Her case is considered among the high number of missing and murdered Indigenous women of Canada, and her death renewed calls by activists for the government to conduct a national inquiry into the issue.
Michèle Taïna Audette is a Canadian politician and activist. She served as president of Femmes autochtones du Québec from 1998 to 2004 and again from 2010 to 2012. She was also the president of Native Women's Association of Canada from 2012 to 2014. From 2004 through 2008, she served as Associate Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Relations with Citizens and Immigration of the Quebec government, where she was in charge of the Secretariat for Women.
Bernadette Smith is a Canadian First Nations politician who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba in a by-election on June 13, 2017. She represents the electoral district of Point Douglas as a member of the Manitoba New Democratic Party. In November 2023, Smith was named to the BBC's 100 Women list.
Rosalie Fish is a Native American runner, member of the Cowlitz Tribe, former student athlete at Iowa Central Community College, currently studying and running for the University of Washington. As a senior at Muckleshoot Tribal School, Fish made international headlines when she painted a red handprint over her mouth, the fingers extending across her cheeks to honor the lives of missing and murdered indigenous women. Rosalie Fish has also been a featured speaker for Tedx Talks.
The REDress Project by Jaime Black is a public art installation that was created in response to the missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW) epidemic in Canada and the United States. The on-going project began in 2010 and commemorates missing and murdered indigenous women from the First Nations, Inuit, Métis (FNIM), and Native American communities by hanging empty red dresses in a range of environments. The project has also inspired other artists to use red to draw attention to the issue of MMIW, and prompted the creation of Red Dress Day.
The Sisters in Spirit initiative was a program led by the Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC) and funded by Status of Women Canada. Beginning in 2005, the initiative was an effort to research and document the statistics of violence against Indigenous women in Canada. It also sought to heighten awareness and education regarding the treatment of Indigenous women, and ultimately influence policy to address these issues through documenting the lived experience of Indigenous women and highlighting the underlying causes of this violence.
Ilona Verley is a Canadian-American drag queen, most known for competing on the first season of Canada's Drag Race.
Sheldon Orlando McIntosh, known professionally as Tynomi Banks, is a Canadian drag queen. A staple of Toronto's queer nightlife scene since the 2010s, Tynomi Banks performed in drag for over a decade before competing on the first season of the reality competition television series Canada's Drag Race (2020) and later the second season of Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs. the World (2024).
Red Dress Day, or Red Dress Campaign, is an annual event held by the REDress Project in memory of the lives of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls across Canada. This event was originally held on May 5, 2010, and continues annually. The event is sometimes held on other dates throughout the year to coincide with other days of action, such as National Indigenous Peoples Day. Associated names with this event include National Day of Awareness For Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women And Girls. Red Dress Day is one of several campaigns started by activists to call attention to disproportionate rates of violence against Indigenous women.
D'Pharaoh Miskwaatez McKay Woon-A-Tai is a Canadian actor of Oji-Cree descent. He is best known for his role as Bear Smallhill in the FX on Hulu comedy-drama series Reservation Dogs (2021), for which he received nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and two Critics' Choice Television Awards.
Jaime Black is a Canadian Métis artist and activist of Anishinaabe and Finnish descent. Her work focuses on First Nations and Indigenous representation and identity. Black is best known for the REDress Project, an art installation that she created as a response to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) crisis in Canada as well as the United States. A 2014 report by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police found that more than 1,000 Indigenous women were murdered over the span of 30 years from 1980 to 2012. However, some Indigenous advocacy groups dispute these reports arguing that the number is much greater than the government has acknowledged.
Chelazon Leroux is the stage name of Layten Byhette, a Canadian drag performer, comedian, model, and activist who competed on season 3 of Canada's Drag Race.
Jordan Marie Brings Three White Horses Daniel (they/them) is a fourth-generation runner, documentary film producer/director and Indigenous activist who uses running as a platform to honor and raise awareness of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW). Daniel participated in the 2019 Boston Marathon with Wings of America and dedicated their run to the cause of Missing and murdered Indigenous Women. In 2021, Daniel was featured in the book, Notable Native People: 50 Indigenous Leaders, Dreamers and Changemakers from Past and Present by Adrienne Keene.
Isabella Aiukli Cornell is a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, and a young activist. She is the organizing member of Matriarch, and inter-tribal non-profit based in Oklahoma. In 2018, her Junior prom dress garnered national attention which highlighted the crisis of violence against Native women.
