After months of seeing wooden red dresses that symbolize missing and murdered Indigenous women disappear or be destroyed near Campbell River, Leslie Hnatiw contacted the city’s mayor, asking him to make a public statement condemning the vandalism.
That was in October. Early this month, Hnatiw, a member of Wei Wai Kum First Nation, and others from her community met with city officials. By that time, 17 of 48 signs were missing or had been vandalized. Since then, another 11 have been destroyed, she said.
So far, no public statement from the city has been forthcoming.
Jamie Bryant, a member of Wei Wai Kai First Nation, called the city’s silence on the matter “disheartening.”
“We deserve an answer to this,” said Bryant, who penned a letter to city asking that it show its support for initiatives honouring Indigenous communities..
This week, the city sent Bryant a letter saying it acknowledges the trauma caused by the destruction of the red dresses and supports education on the issue.
“Your calls for action from the City are well noted,” the letter says. “While we are proud of the work that we have begun with Chief Roberts and the Wei Wai Kum First Nation and Chief Chickite and the We Wai Kai Nation, we acknowledge that steps must continue to be taken and that there is still much to be done.”
Asked Thursday if it would issue a public statement condemning the vandalism of the red dresses, the city said it posted information on social media in May to mark Red Dress Day, it condemns all illegal activity and it encourages members of the public to call police to report stolen items and other crimes.
The 48 wooden dresses, all hand-painted red, were installed by Hnatiw and others along the highway between Comox Valley and Campbell River in May.
A couple of the dresses disappeared initially, but Hnatiw wasn’t sure if it was malicious. The dresses were then screwed into wildlife fencing to prevent their removal, she said.
Hnatiw had saved the locations of the dresses in her phone and checked on them whenever she drove the highway.
In October, Hnatiw noticed many of the symbolic dresses were missing around the Campbell River area. She found them intact but thrown over the wildlife fencing, she said.
“When I see these dresses destroyed, it breaks my heart, but also makes me angry,” Hnatiw said.
When requests have been made on community Facebook pages for the behaviour to stop, the response has been “disgusting hate and racism,” with some people suggesting white dresses should be installed along the highway, Hnatiw said.
“This is unceded territory. These people are guests living on this land, and the way these people were speaking was just horrifying and really hard for a lot of Indigenous people that live here to read,” she said.
Hnatiw reinstalled the dresses, but they were damaged again.
“Whoever is doing this made a point to destroy them completely. I don’t have any more dresses to put up,” she said.
Campbell River RCMP said it has an active investigation into the vandalism and anyone with information is asked to call the detachment at 250-286-6221.
Mounties also investigated an incident in February when red dresses made of fabric went missing, but it was unclear if it was caused by high wind, said spokesman Const. Maury Tyre.
