To Other Non-Indigenous Business Owners,
Today is Red Dress Day.
Almost seven years ago, I took a course on activism and resistance led by Dr. Renae Watchman. It was the first time I had heard about the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls crisis. I was blown away. When I started to do more research, I realized that this crisis extends across the globe impacting Indigenous communities almost everywhere.
Since then, awareness of the crisis has grown and extended. Reports have been written in Canada and elsewhere, yet are we seeing a change in the numbers? Are we seeing changes institutionally?
We know the violence towards women, girls, two spirit, and “othered” identifying folk is complex and multifaceted. It’s enacted in a multitude of ways that often intersect. What I’ve been thinking about lately, is how this violence is connected to resource extraction… it seems like it is connected to the extraction of oil, water, forestry, and agriculture in ways that I had not anticipated when I first started thinking about starting a business. It seems to permeate supply chain in a deeply significant way.
What I’ve realized is that as business owners, we have a responsibility to re-imagine supply chain in a way that is truly post-colonial and push for clear measurement around the true impacts we are having in community. I don’t have all the answers on how to do this yet… but I am working on figuring it out.
This is a photo of a painting called “Still Dancing” painted by my dear friend @jonlabart. It hangs in remembrance of #mmiwg
Today and everyday we remember the missing and the murdered. Ours hearts are with the families and communities impacted. We have a responsibility always and already to take accountability, take action, and to stand in solidarity.
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#stopviolencetowardswomenandgirls #sarjesa #postcolonial #impactthroughcommunity #mmiwg2s
