ELY – Several businesses here, including Ely’s Historic State Theater, Crapola, and the Front Porch Coffee and Tea Company, will hang displays of red dresses during the first week of May in remembrance of missing and murdered Indigenous women.
Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women Awareness Day is recognized on May 5 each year in the United States.
In solidarity with the families who are still grieving and waiting for answers, Story Portage has partnered with area businesses to broaden awareness as part of its truth, reconciliation, and healing programming. This collaborative project is funded by Story Portage, The State Farm Foundation, and The Elmer L. and Eleanor J. Andersen Foundation.
Originally created by Canadian Artist Jaime Black and titled “The REDress Project,” the installations highlight the epidemic of violence against Indigenous women. Each dress symbolizes an Indigenous woman who has been murdered or is missing, representing just a portion of thousands of people.
The REDress Project focuses on the issue of missing or murdered Aboriginal women across Canada and the United States. It is an installation art project based on an aesthetic response to this critical national issue. The project has been installed in public spaces throughout Canada and the United States as a visual reminder of the staggering number of women who are affected. Through the installation organizers hope to draw attention to the gendered and racialized nature of violent crimes against women and to evoke a presence through the marking of absence.
Ely’s Historic State Theater will host the film “Wind River” on Thursday, May 5, beginning at 7 p.m. This film is free and open to the public and is made possible by the generous support of Fortune Bay Resort Casino. This is part of the ongoing community conversation following Senator Mary Kunesh’s Ely visit this past fall coordinated by the Ely branch of the American Association of University Women.
This project will continue next winter with a sponsored showing of “Killers of the Flower Moon” at Ely’s Historic State Theater. Area book clubs are encouraged to read the book by David Grann.
Area businesses and individuals interested in being involved in 2023 should contact Story Portage at storyportage@gmail.com.