Dozens gather in Sydney to raise awareness about missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls

Dozens of people gathered and marched down George Street in Sydney, N.S., on Sunday to mark Canada's National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, also known as Red Dress Day.

Red Dress Day started in 2010 when a Métis artist in Winnipeg hung hundreds of red dresses in public places, symbolizing the loss of Indigenous women and girls.

Rhenelda Denny of Eskasoni First Nation took part in Sydney's walk. Her 21-year-old daughter, Eleanor Young, went missing in 2023.

"I really need to know what happened to my daughter," said Denny.

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Young's body was found in September 2023 along an embankment off Wentworth Creek in Sydney, just a few hundred metres from where Sunday's Red Dress Walk began in Wentworth Park.

"It's hard," Denny said of her family’s loss. “We wouldn't be able to do it without the support of the Ally Centre and the Jane Paul Centre."

During Sunday's ceremony, the Ally Centre of Cape Breton announced that a 25-unit rapid housing building under construction in Sydney's north end will be named in Young's memory.

"We decided that it would be best to name that building after Eleanor Young," said Christine Porter, executive director of the Ally Centre.

"The significance of that of course is that Eleanor died homeless and we feel that these housing initiatives really need to focus on those who are really on the streets and at the highest risk."

Twelve-year-old Rhyan Paul of Eskasoni, N.S., attended the walk to speak out about Indigenous girls not much older than herself who are part of the grim story emblematized by the red dresses.

"I want the world to ask themselves, 'Why are they allowing this?" Paul said. "It's just shoved into a drawer. They'll grieve, they'll cry about it, then they'll just forget it the next day."

The walk finished at the Jane Paul Centre - a safe haven for vulnerable Indigenous women and girls.

Meanwhile, Young's mother had a plea when it comes to her daughter's case.

"Somebody needs to come forward, really, with information regarding Eleanor's passing," she said.

For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.