Red Dress Gallery

I’m a high school History/Social Studies teacher. I teach two Canadian History courses per year and have done so for most of my 34-year teaching career. Teaching the history of Indigenous people in Canada has always been a priority for me. Canada’s history, after all, cannot be authentically told without delving into the contributions of Indigenous people - contributions that were made at great cost to the people and their culture.

Teaching the Indigenous story is not easy. If one pauses for too long and tries to see through historical figures’ eyes, it can be quite emotional. What was it to live through unmerciful epidemics after the first white traders appeared in the community? What was it like for young First Nations women to be married off to fur traders who lived far from home? What was it like to starve when the bison were gone? What was it like to be taken away from home to go to school hundreds of kilometers away?

I’ve heard many Indigenous people speak about their experiences and their culture. The stories are often hard, gut-wrenching, and sometimes horrific. Hearing these stories, any thinking and feeling person has to ask why so little is being done to address these nagging injustices. It is so maddening, which makes the patience of the Indigenous community even harder to understand. Maybe patience is the wrong word, after all, one can be angry and impatient on the inside but choose how to channel these feelings before others.

As I think about it, however, I’m starting to question whether patience is the right word. Maybe describing it as waiting is better. Waiting isn’t a choice; it is a reality. Summer won’t arrive any sooner if you’re impatient or if you refuse to wait. The Indigenous people of Turtle Island know this better than anyone - the earth works in its own time and we wait. Begin human is waiting. Perhaps the red dress is a symbol of humanity; a reminder that people are waiting for the rest of humanity to catch-up so we can untangle a history of injustice together.