'You don't ask the victim to make changes'; Windsor Indigenous elder makes Red Dress Day appeal for allies
Theresa Sims has survived racism and sexual violence and wants non-Indigenous allies to help press for change
WARNING: This story contains descriptions of sexual assault and violence.
For Theresa Sims, the red dress at the centre of Red Dress Day on May 5 symbolizes abuse, neglect, racism and discrimination directed at Indigenous people.
Sims, who is an elder at the Ska:na Family Learning Centre in Windsor, experienced that racist abuse first hand in high school — when she was abducted and assaulted by a gang of fellow students who pulled her into a car, choked her unconscious and discarded her in an alley.
"I don't remember too much except waking in the alley on a pile of garbage – so they threw me away like garbage," Sims said.
"I had rips and tears all over my body and bites. And I was raped, and I was bleeding … but no one would pick me up. I had to walk to the hospital to get help because everybody thought I was a drunk Indian."
Sims told the story on CBC Windsor Morning on Monday during an interview marking Red Dress Day, the national day of awareness and remembrance for missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQ people.
Violence against Indigenous people 'not unusual'
And she said her story is not unusual.
Sixty-three per cent of Indigenous women have experienced physical or sexual assault in their lifetimes, according to the Government of Canada. And Indigenous women and girls are six times more likely to be murdered than other people in Canada, according to a 2023 report from Statistics Canada.
The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Woman and Girls (MMIWG), launched in 2016, concluded in its final report that Indigenous peoples were victims of genocide.
For Sims, the racism she suffered in high school continued when she settled in Windsor, she said.
LISTEN | Ska:na elder shares her story of sexual violence on Red Dress Day
"When I first moved to Windsor, I was going to get a coffee, and I just went to a corner store … and a police officer stopped me and said, 'Are you working today?'" she said.
"He thought I was a sex-trade worker because I'm Indigenous."
Years later, she said, Indigenous people are still racially profiled in retail outlets, where staff frequently assume they are planning to shoplift.
The only solution, she added, is education, and Indigenous people need non-Indigenous allies to help.
"You don't ask the victim to make changes," she said.
"You ask them to heal…. We're only three per cent of the population. So we need help and allies to educate people on all levels, from the public schools to the hospitals. The police officers, the fire department – all of them need to be aware of who we are."
WATCH | The origins of Red Dress Day and MMIWG2S+
Sims said Indigenous people need more access to mental health services for people dealing with trauma, and Indigenous women and families need a shelter of their own.
They need support from people of European descent that were once helped by Indigenous people, she said.
"We are the original people. We were the ones that helped your health when you first came over and you were suffering from scurvy, you know? We invited you as friends. We helped you to develop and grow, and then we're thrown to the side."
Crisis support is available for anyone affected by these reports and the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous people through a national 24-hour hotline at 1-844-413-6649.
Health support services such as mental health counselling, community-based support and cultural services, and some travel costs to see elders and traditional healers are available through the government of Canada.