ST. PAUL - On Thursday afternoon, a convoy of vehicles with signs and red dresses blowing in the wind made its way through a large portion of the town of St. Paul, honking their horns and drawing awareness to a very personal cause.
With an RCMP vehicle leading the way, the convoy started at the UFO landing pad, and about half an hour later ended their route at the Mannawanis Native Friendship Centre. Heading indoors on the cool day, a group of people sat in a circle, sharing their own personal stories.
Morgana White, a practicum student, lead a short kick-off to a ribbon campaign that has been created at the friendship centre, in honour of missing and murdered Indigenous people.
"May 5 is the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. In Canada, Indigenous women and girls are targeted with violence more than any other group," said White, as she read short speech. "They are 12 times more likely to go missing of be killed."
With May 5 just a few days away, events had been taking place from April 30 to May 3 at the friendship centre, which included a sacred fire, leading up to Red Dress Day.
White explained that a few years ago, former Mannawanis Native Friendship Centre executive director Hinano Rosa spoke about a ribbon campaign and his hopes that a campaign could help spark conversations within people's homes.
"The idea was to provide different colours of ribbon that would represent different groups that we have lost," explained White.
The colour red represents women and girls who have gone missing or were murdered.
The green ribbon represents men and boys who have gone missing or were murdered.
A rainbow ribbon represents the "two-spirit plus" community that has been affected by gender-based violence.
The white ribbon is meant to represent elders who have gone missing or were murdered.
The yellow ribbon represents children that have been murdered or killed while living in foster homes, or struggling to leave the foster care system.
And the last ribbon - purple - represents "our ancestors who have gone before us," said White.
Packages of ribbons were handed out, and White encouraged people to tie the ribbons outside their homes - on a tree, or railing, for example.
"The hope is that when participants have visitors over, it will get the visitors asking questions about the ribbon... Together we can raise awareness and honour the families and survivors who have been impacted by the ongoing crisis, by educating one another and having those difficult conversations," said White.
Speaking about her personal experience, White held a photograph of her cousin, Robert Stamp, who has been missing in November 2016. His vehicle was located near Highway 15, not long after he went missing, but Stamp was never found.
Stamp has two sons who miss their dad very much, said White.
