TORONTO -- Thousands of Indigenous women around the world are sharing photos on social media in solidarity with a 10-year-old Canadian girl who was ridiculed for wearing a traditional ribbon skirt to school last month.
Isabella Kulak from the Cote First Nation attended a 鈥渇ormal day鈥� at Kamsack Comprehensive Institute in Saskatchewan on the final day of class before the holidays. Other girls at the school were wearing what looked like store-bought dresses, she and her parents recounted on 麻豆影视 Channel Friday, but Isabella chose to wear one of her traditional, handmade ribbon skirts.
The Indigenous attire, which are often vibrantly coloured and feature ribbon-like patterns, mean many things to different women and are worn on a variety of occasions.
For Isabella, the skirts holds much power. 鈥淚t represents strength, resilience, cultural identity and womanhood,鈥� she told 麻豆影视 Channel on Friday.
But in one moment that day, that power was taken from her, when a teaching assistant told Isabella that her skirt didn鈥檛 match her dress and wasn鈥檛 appropriate for a formal day. They pointed to another girl at the school in a dress suggesting Isabella wear something different next time. The school has since apologized to Isabella and her family.
When she went home that day, Isabella鈥檚 parents Lana and Chris noticed she seemed sad. Later that evening, she opened up to her mother about what happened.
鈥淚t really broke my heart and it brought back all kinds of emotions from when I was a little girl,鈥� Lana told 麻豆影视 Channel. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 believe that it was happening in this day and age to one of my children now. It was very heartbreaking.鈥�
A has grown to more than 5,500 members since Dec. 30. In thousands of images posted to the page, Indigenous women and girls from across Canada and around the globe -- from California to England -- are seen showing off a variety of ribbon skirts. Some are simple designs, others intricate and floral. Some are playful. One woman posted a photo of her wearing an Edmonton Oilers skirt. Another young girl shared an image of her holding a baby Yoda doll in a matching ribbon skirt.
The incident has inspired a push for a 鈥渞ibbon skirt day鈥� later this month in the area. Isabella鈥檚 parents hope that the difficult moment for the family can turn into a positive lesson for others.
鈥淭hese old mindsets and these old ways of thinking 鈥� people think there鈥檚 been a bunch of progress and maybe there has been, but not enough. We can always strive to do better,鈥� said Chris. 鈥淚 hope that all the support and showing of interest in this story will get people talking in a positive way about what happened and not a negative way so that we can change the course of this discussion that鈥檚 been happening for a very long time.鈥�
The outpouring of support has already been a positive step.
鈥淚t felt very nice to know that I have lots of people supporting me around the world,鈥� said Isabella, who has been getting personal messages of encouragement.鈥�
