REDress: Art, Action, and the Power of Presence is an anthology that aims to raise awareness of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit people (MMIWG2S), a highly important issue in Canada.

- REDress
- Jaime Black-Morsette (Editor)
- Portage & Main Press
- $38.00 Paperback, 160 pages
- ISBN: 978-17-74921-38-8
The REDress Project was founded in 2009 by artist and editor of the anthology Jaime Black-Morsette. It is an installation art–based project that calls attention to the issue of MMIWG2S in public spaces. The red dress has since become an iconic and powerful symbol of the MMIWG2S movement.
When asked how she felt about her art inspiring such a large movement, Black-Morsette explained: “I feel like I helped activate something much greater than myself, a spiritual force symbolized by the Red Dress. The Red Dress connects us to the strength and force of generations of women standing in their power, fighting to protect one another.”
REDress comes 15 years after the initial art project launched. Black-Morsette described how this anthology came to be at this moment in time.
“Since stepping onto this path … I sometimes describe it as a river … creating The REDress Project felt like stepping into a fast-moving current – but since stepping into this water, I have let it take me, rather than trying to set the course, and it took me here! With an offer from HighWater Press to create a publication about the work.”
The REDress Project helped Black-Morsette connect with others affected by the issue of MMIWG2S, which also inspired this anthology.
“Along this path I have also had the privilege of connecting with a powerful network of women standing up for themselves and one another; the book became a place to gather our voices together in a collective call for action,” she explained.
Black-Morsette also feels that this is the right moment for REDress, explaining how “the timing of this book being released is prescient given that the voices of powerful women and especially powerful Indigenous women are especially important in combating the rollback of human rights occurring south of the border.”

The creation of REDress brought up a lot of difficult emotions for Black-Morsette, who also shared her emotional journey in the anthology.
“I felt like I had a responsibility to all those connected to the work I do to really access my own vulnerability in my writing for this book. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done and I felt very afraid of being exposed, but I have always written and created from a very raw and vulnerable place and I think that is also where my power and the power of the work comes from.”
Ultimately the creation of the REDress Project and now anthology has been an inspiring process for Black-Morsette.
“My art practice and The REDress Project have given me the courage to continue confronting where we are broken and find healing and power in the creative expression of our experiences,” she says.
This powerful and inspiring anthology addresses the extremely important and pressing issue of MMIWG2S, and Black-Morsette hopes that it will inspire readers into action.
“I want readers to feel into the experiences of the writers, to open a connection, to share in our vulnerabilities and our strengths and to create together from those places a world more compassionate, interconnected and caring.”