(Above) Tillsonburg CC, Ont., marks the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, also known as Red Dress Day, with a display of red dresses in the trees surrounding the corps

For the past four years, The Salvation Army’s Tillsonburg Community Church, Ont., has marked the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, also known as Red Dress Day, on May 5. 

We started with a display of red dresses hanging in the window of our thrift store downtown, along with information about the REDress Project by artist Jaime Black, of mixed Anishinaabe and Finnish descent, who first created this installation art project. The following year, we collected red dresses from our thrift store and hung them in the trees surrounding the corps. 

These empty red dresses are a visual reminder of the staggering number of mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts and grandmothers who are no longer with us. Although the exact number isn’t known, Indigenous women, girls and two-spirited individuals are 12 times more likely to go missing or be murdered in comparison to non-Indigenous women in Canada.

These displays have generated a lot of conversation. Individuals in the thrift store and our social hub, community members who utilize the corps building and our community partners have all asked about what the red dresses mean and the “why” behind them.

Along with raising awareness, we have also joined with our local Rotary Club to address the issue of human trafficking, because Indigenous women and twospirited individuals are at higher risk of being trafficked. 

Marking Red Dress Day is just one way that we are seeking to embrace the journey of reconciliation. Each Sunday, we begin our service with a land acknowledgment, as a reminder that as we gather in the sacred places of our halls, corps, citadels and temples, we do so on treaty land.

Tillsonburg Community Church is situated on the traditional homeland of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee and Objiwe/Chippewa First Nations, an area covered by an Upper Canada treaty, signed before Confederation. We are also part of the “Dish With One Spoon” treaty.

As we enter our place of worship, we do so with the understanding that we share the land on which we meet. The “Dish With One Spoon” reminds us that we only have one mother earth— the shared dish from which we eat. We need to keep the dish clean and care for it for the next generation. The spoon symbolizes the people who use the dish, passing it from one generation to the next.

Tillsonburg Community Church is seeking to learn, celebrate and partner with our Indigenous neighbours in several ways:

• In 2023, Major Shari Russell, our territory’s first Indigenous ministries consultant, led a weekend of learning by guiding us through the KAIROS blanket exercise. This brought an understanding of the history of Canada from the Indigenous perspective, as well as a deeper consciousness of our relationship to and with our Indigenous neighbours, and our responsibility as treaty members to walk gently together. 
• In August 2024, nine people from our ministry unit attended The Salvation Army’s Celebration of Culture at Pine Lake Camp in Alberta, participating in workshops and a powwow. 
• Every year, we mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day, by joining local events and purchasing our shirts at a local reserve. 
• This year, we are planning an event with two nearby First Nations to draw attention to the lack of clean, safe drinking water in many Indigenous communities. 

Tillsonburg Community Church is seeking to be a transformational presence in our local community, through innovative approaches that share the message that each life matters and is worthy of God’s love. We look forward to seeing where God takes us next in bringing this message of value, care and seeking justice where injustice is present.

Lieutenant Drew Young is the corps officer at Tillsonburg Community Church, Ont.

Photos: Lieutenant Drew Young