Hundreds of people gathered in downtown Edmonton and across the country on Thursday to honor the names of Missing and Murdered Indigenous people.

It is the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, more commonly known as Red Dress Day. The empty red dresses symbolize those who have been lost.

Samantha Ming said, "In our culture, we believe that spirits use the color red, so today we hope that our spirits see us, and let us honor them and see them and know that we walk with them." "We hope they walk beside us too."

Ming is a member of the Red Ribbon Skirt project. The group, along with community members, met at the Edmonton Public Library every Saturday in April and sewed more than 100 red ribbon skirts to present to families of missing and murdered Indigenous people.

"We honor the families and make sure these voices are heard and these people are not forgotten." She said, "There isn't enough conversation about this topic, so it's very important to keep it alive by always showing up and reminding other generations of the horror that happened."

Mary Louise Cardinal is one of these family members whose niece, Audrey Beaver, has been missing since August 2020. She said, "I don't know where she is." "We will never give up until we find her. Maybe she is not with us on earth, but she will always be with us in spirit. Because that is what these skirts represent, the spirits and souls of our lost families."

Kelly Aluck also attended the march to honor a family member whose brother Terrence has been missing since October 2016. "I wouldn't wish this on anyone. You don't know if they are okay, or if they're hungry, or cold, or if they are somewhere, it's really hard."

But meeting with many others to speak on behalf of their loved ones is also a positive experience, says Aluck. "It feels great to be able to raise our voices because we are not alone. There are many people going through what we are going through." "It feels like we are going to make a difference by being here."

Despite the unimaginable losses that have brought members of this community together, Judith Gill agrees that today is a day of love and celebration. "No matter what we've been through, we have the love we share with everyone, and that is what we are doing here today." "This is our day to say, 'No matter what happened to us, we are still here, and we are still on our way to rising, because that is who we are as Indigenous people, we are resilient and we will never forget them.'"