The RCMP’s ribbon skirts aren’t an example of ‘reconciliation’ — but of assimilation

The officer pictured in the RCMP’s latest social media post wears a red serge jacket, adorned with gold buttons and various patches and medals. On the bottom, the person has on a long black ribbon skirt with shining strips of yellow, red, blue and white. 

The officer is holding an eagle feather staff. Their head is cropped out of the image.

“The RCMP is excited to announce the addition of the RCMP Ribbon Skirt to the ceremonial uniform,” says the announcement, in part.

“The Ribbon Skirt is a symbol of resilience, survival, identity and hope and also representative of a person’s unique diversity and strength.”

The ribbon skirt is a symbol of our resilience and survival — from colonial forces, including the RCMP. Indigenous people have had their oppressive forces wielded against us since the inception of “Canada’s” national police force.

And yes, it is a symbol of our identity — an identity we had to reconstruct because our ceremonial clothing was stolen, burned, banned and criminalized by the federal government. It was the RCMP who enforced this religious persecution, known as the Potlach Ban, prohibiting sqilx’w (Indigenous) ceremonies all over “Canada.”

This new RCMP ribbon skirt was unveiled on social media on Wednesday after a five-year-long process to have it approved as meeting standards for the ceremonial uniform. As I write this, the Facebook post revealing the skirt now sits at a growing 5,000 shares, with many questioning if it was satire.

The RCMP also asserts in the announcement that the colours of their ribbon skirt symbolize the four directions and RCMP colours, and they suggest we are in a time of unity — a reality that just simply does not exist for most Indigenous kin in this country.

So, to say this ribbon skirt, and the sentiment that goes along with it, is an insult to our intelligence wouldn’t be saying enough. 

RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme wrote on social media that “The Ribbon Skirt, along with our Eagle Feather and Métis Sash, demonstrate the RCMP’s values of reconciliation, equity, diversity and inclusion.”

But is this really an act of “diversity and inclusion” to incorporate the ribbon skirt into this violent, colonial institution? Or is it an act of assimilation? Often folks can get that confused when appropriating. 

And speaking to whether this is “reconciliation,” it’s important to acknowledge that true reconciliation involves recognizing and respecting the autonomy and integrity of sqilx’w Peoples’ way of life. 

It means acknowledging the truth of “Canada’s” history and facing it head on. It means addressing the ongoing harms inflicted by colonial institutions, including the RCMP, and taking concrete steps to reform their practices so Indigenous Peoples stop being harmed by them. 

Reconciliation is “Canada” being honest with itself about the violence it took for the colonial state to benefit from the oppression of Indigenous homelands and Peoples.  

Throughout history, colonial institutions have consistently sought to undermine our knowledge and governance systems by absorbing and sanitizing elements of them. 

Our homeland ceremonies, including ribbon skirts, are very important to our governance systems and way of life. They embody our connections to the land, our ancestors, and the Spirit World. 

Our ceremonial clothing is not just clothing — it is part of our living governance protocols that sustain our communities and uphold our sovereignty. The RCMP’s co-opting of the ribbon skirt is a direct attack on these practices, an attempt to neutralize the power of our governance systems.

Ribbon skirts are one example of our teachings of duality. They are the animate medicine, the tangible thing you can see, touch, and feel, providing us with a clear mind, and a sense of safety and strength while wearing them. The inanimate energy of the ribbon skirt is the medicine it carries: the prayers it holds, the power of connecting feminine energy to the land while doing ceremonies, and honouring protocols of the people. 

These skirts are lovingly and individually created to encapsulate the medicine of our roles and responsibilities within our homelands that are given to us as responsibilities at birth, embodying the sacredness of Indigenous women, girls and gender-diverse kin.

Yet, while we hold onto our sacredness, and while we cling to our sqilx’w ways of life, the forced removal of our people from our lands continues. Our kin are still being taken from us at alarming rates.

The removal of our people from the land is the first thing the RCMP were created to do, and the one thing they will continue to do. After all, removing the people from their land makes it easier to take that land and all the resources it can provide.

So while they assimilate our ceremonial sacred items, they will continue to take our men from our communities, often through violence, and force them to make their beds behind bars — forced removal. 

They will continue to ignore the violence against Indigenous women, girls and gender-diverse, taking women away from their homelands and burying them beneath it — forced removal. 

They will continue to criminalize our Youth who have had to resort to using survival tactics to live life after being taken from the communities through the child “welfare” system — forced removal. 

So, the RCMP will continue to do exactly what they were designed to do — removing Indigenous people from our homelands, ignoring countless ongoing injustices and killing us at alarming rates. The fact that officers are now going to wear ribbon skirts doesn’t change anything when they’re still arresting us while we’re wearing ours.