The Highway of Tears. This concept was a pretty foreign topic to me before moving up North. I had heard of it, but I never really knew the impact it had. Growing up in Vancouver, I had pre-existing information that Indigenous women were more likely to fall victims to crimes. However, it wasn’t till we, as a class, partook in the Red Dress Activity I understood that there was so much more going on. The class lesson then shifted into an interactive activity which I enjoyed. We had the opportunity to make felt red dresses. My initial reaction to the activity was excitement that we could do some tactile learning. This would also help me work on my fine motor skills (which are lacking.) However, as I began to cut out my dress template, I developed a sickening feeling. I realized the purpose of the activity was not to have fun and make little red dresses but to acknowledge and recognize the social issue at hand. These dresses symbolized missing Indigenous women, most of whom never received the attention they deserved. The sickening feeling persisted as I started to stitch individual beads to the red felt. I then had to ground myself back and reflect on what this activity meant. It is a way to spread awareness of the injustices of missing Indigenous women. I decided to continue making my mini red dresses and think about what I could do with this information. I immediately knew that I had to share the activity. I sent the document with the story and activities to my old teacher mentor in Vancouver and explained that this would be a great way to bring light and recognition to those missing women. It would also be a great educational tool. This activity admittedly challenged more than my fine motor skills but also made me reflect on how lucky I am and that I should do my best to take these self-realizations and share them.
