Remember their names: Red Dress Day rallies in Manitoba call for justice for MMIWG

Diane Bousquet thinks of every missing and murdered Indigenous woman and girl in Canada as she ties red ribbons on bridges and fences in Winnipeg.

Bousquet is part of a group that's walking from a site at the Brady Road landfill called Camp Morgan, named after Morgan Harris, who was killed last year, to The Forks on Friday in recognition of Red Dress Day, a national day of awareness and action for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

"Every last one of them, I've written every name … on every ribbon that I have that we're going to be placing on this walk. I don't just write those names, I read their stories. I hear where they're from. I know if they're missing. I know if they're murdered," she told CBC News outside the landfill Friday morning.

"It's not one person, it's all of them and it's Canada-wide."

Bousquay has six friends who have been murdered or are missing, and after hearing Morgan Harris's daughter Cambria issue a number of powerful calls to action, she felt compelled to act.

"Somebody's got to stand up and say something and do something. Our federal government needs to step in and not only implement the 231 calls for justice [from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls], they need to place Manitoba under a state of emergency when it comes to our missing and murdered," Bousquay said.

Across the city, hundreds gathered at Portage Avenue and Main Street for a round dance and march to The Forks to mark Red Dress Day.

Jennifer Ducharme was there in honour of her friend, Cherisse Houle from Ebb and Flow First Nation, who was found dead in the rural municipality of Rosser in 2009. Her brother was later shot to death.

Ducharme held a sign and wore red on Friday "to represent all of our sisters, not only her, everyone else," she said.

At a different march, dozens gathered on Sioux Valley Dakota Nation to remember loved ones who are lost.

Penny Antoine held memories close of her late sister and daughter during the walk.

Her daughter died last year, while her sister died nearly 20 years ago.

Antoine initially didn't want to take part in the walk, but two other sisters and her daughter convinced her it would be healing.

"In the beginning, I was sad, cried. But throughout the walk, I was just thinking like, I can do this. I can do this. Even though my body may have said no, I made it," she said.