MMIP & Pink Shirt Day Community Engagement Session & Dance
On Friday, February 27, 2026, the Wellness Program hosted a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples (MMIP) & Pink Shirt Day Community Engagement Session and Dance at the Kainai Multi-Purpose Building in Standoff, AB.
It was an evening of connection, awareness, and community to raise awareness about bullying, promoting kindness, and supporting the families impacted by MMIP. The event was opened with speeches from BTDH leadership, who offered words of encouragement and stressed the importance of events like this to the community.
“It’s really important that we continue to find ways and share some of those experiences, because our kids and our grandkids need to know the importance of some of the struggles that have happened and to some the victims and some of the issues they went through”, said BTDH Board Chairman, Marcel Weasel Head.
The Keynote speaker for the event was Marla Medicine Shield, who is a Child Care Worker and MMIP Advocate, who, along with her family members, spoke up against bullying, lateral violence, and for her family member, Gloria Black Plume, who lost her life through violence.
“Bullying may seem small, but when disrespect is normalized it creates some conditions that allow Indigenous women and girls to be ignored, dismissed, and harmed, and that’s why this conversation matters”, said Medicine Shield.
The evening’s entertainment was provided by the Baby Flats youth drum group, who sang the honour song as family, friends, allies, and BTDH leadership danced for MMIP. Rudz Crew wrapped up the evening as the band played fan favorites, and the dance floor filled fast.
The MMIP & Pink Shirt Day Community Enagement Session and Dance ended on a strong note of community spirit, with people coming together to celebrate one another, to honour MMIP, and to “Sprinkle Kindness,” the event’s main theme.
