'A really powerful day': Commemorating National Ribbon Skirt Day in Winnipeg

Dozens donned colourful fabrics and patterns Saturday in honour of the third-annual National Ribbon Skirt Day celebrated across the country.

Dozens donned colourful fabrics and patterns Saturday in honour of the third-annual National Ribbon Skirt Day celebrated across the country.

In Winnipeg, Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people wore their ribbon skirts with pride in the centre court at CF Polo Park – with each woven thread putting their culture and resilience on display.

“Today was a really powerful day,” said Hilda Anderson-Pyrz, an advocate and one of the event organizers. “It was about healing, it was about reclaiming, it was about connecting, nurturing our spirits, filling each other with love and kindness.

“Most of all, hope; hope that change is coming,” she added.

Ribbon Skirt Day honours Isabel Kulak – a member of the Cote First Nation in Saskatchewan. In 2020, when Kulak was in Grade 5, she wore a ribbon skirt to school and was told it wasn’t formal enough to meet the dress code. Kulak's story sparked a global movement and inspired the enactment of the National Ribbon Skirt Day Act by the federal government.

“The ribbon skirt is a powerful symbol for many different things,” said Anderson-Pyrz, adding that it can be seen as a shield of honour and protection.

“As an Indigenous woman, wearing a ribbon skirt is an act of resistance,” said Manitoba Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine. “It's actually a means of our liberation as Indigenous women, to take up space and to wear our ribbon skirts in every space that we find ourselves.”