Red Dress Special
Growing up, Sandra Johnson was a shawl dancer. Her footwork and speed has been described as phenomenal. She loved traditional dancing since she was a little girl. Sandra travelled to powwows with her family and eventually learned how to bead her own regalia.
A bright future ahead of her, Sandra’s life was cut short when she was murdered at just 18 years old. Her murder remains unsolved.
The red dress has become the symbol of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. It was first introduced by Jamie Black, a Métis artist in Winnipeg. It was through her REDress Project where she first gathered red dresses and exhibited them in Winnipeg to represent missing or murdered Indigenous women and girls. The exhibit has travelled all over Canada and in 2019 had its first exhibition in the U.S.
From there, the movement spread to other artists and platforms -- from painters to beaders and to the powwow circle where the Red Dress Special was born.
In 2017, Tia Wood -- who was named Head Young Lady Dancer at the Gathering of Nations Powwow -- asked dancers to wear red as part of the Healing of the Red Dress Special. The Red Dress special has spread to powwows across Turtle Island to remember and bring attention to missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
Sharing the stories of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls is important work. The team that brought you Taken worked hard to care for the women’s and their families’ stories. They have done their best to provide a platform to help shed light and perhaps bring new clues to their murders or disappearances. Some of these stories have been turned into a 10-part podcast series. We hope you will listen and share them with your networks, in the hope some of these crimes will be solved.
Kim Wheeler is a writer and publicist. She is the original writer/researcher for Taken. Her daughter, Katarina Ziervogel, is walking in her mom’s footsteps. Katarina also worked on Taken as a writer and social media producer. Kim is holding the doors open for her daughters to walk through.