The APTN documentary series Princesses focuses on the Indigenous cultural misappropriation, double standard and Missing and Murdered Indigenous women. The events of our campaign and the E campaign led up to the Princesses screening and welcoming the Director, Pepper O’Bomsawin to the Atrium of the Bissett School School of Business on November 16th and 17th. There are many Indigenous women who have succeeded in the entertainment industry as a part of this series and discuss how the media continues to portray Indigenous women as an item. The Indigenous people have struggled with a difficult past, and are still trying to overcome the issues that have been brought upon them with colonization.

 

Our campaign was determined to take the assumptions about Indigenous women, and to reshape them, highlighting the beauty in the Indigenous culture and it’s people. Our events began with a Dream Together Through a Dream Catcher workshop where we had craftsperson Shirley Hill to come in and teach us to make dream catchers. Shirley happened to be in the woods this summer picking willows and bending them to use for this purpose. When we contacted her to make these dream catchers in memory of Missing and Murdered Indigenous women she happily obliged, as it was meant to be. We were able to use all of the willows to create dream catchers, and this event on Main Street was a great success.  

 

We had the opportunity to have Tishna Marlowe, creator of the clothing line Six Red Beads to come to MRU and sew us the MRU REDress. The REDress movement is one that honours Missing and Murdered Indigenous women through creating a REDress in their memory and bringing this serious matter to light. Tishna sewed the MRU REDress over the course of 3 days, beginning the day before our screening, and sewing throughout our 2 screening days. We ended our campaign with the Otahpiaaki Fashion Showcase and it was amazing to see the beautiful Indigenous women wearing Six Read Beads and Section 35 clothing.