A skirt that symbolizes reclaiming identity for Indigenous people is now part of the RCMP's official uniform. An example of a ribbon skirt is shown in an undated handout image published to RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme's account on social media site X.HO/The Canadian Press
The RCMP has altered its dress code to include Indigenous ribbon skirts, making the garment available as part of official ceremonial uniforms for female First Nations officers who choose to wear it.
Several critics on social media and elsewhere responded to the announcement by accusing the RCMP of adopting an impractical police garment or by saying the garment is inconsistent with the police force’s colonialist history that caused great harms to Indigenous people.
RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme said in a post on X the gesture “demonstrates the RCMP’s values of reconciliation.”
Ribbon skirts were among the Indigenous cultural practices banned by the government under the Indian Act in the 1800s. According to the Canadian Centre of Diversity and Inclusion, ribbon skirts were made by First Nations and Métis women who used brightly coloured ribbons and embroidery patterns to embellish and express their cultural identities on the broad-cloth skirts brought by European settlers.
One senior member of the RCMP told The Globe and Mail the skirt idea came from Indigenous women who serve within the 20,000-officer force.
“I see it as part of reconciliation,” said RCMP Alberta Inspector Kim Mueller, who is Cree and works in First Nations policing.
She said it was “ugly and disappointing” to see the backlash to the ribbon skirt. “This project was 100 per cent led by Indigenous women within the RCMP, and it’s something that we’ve been rallying for, fighting for, for a couple of years now.”
Insp. Mueller said the RCMP’s latest decision to alter its dress code is no different from the force’s other past attempts at being more inclusive.
“Skirts are very significant in Indigenous cultures,” she said. “Am I as an Indigenous female police officer going to be out fighting crime, arresting people in a ribbon skirt? Absolutely not.”
National Ribbon Skirt Day was first celebrated in 2023, because of a law passed by Parliament the previous year. It was inspired by 11-year-old Isabella Kulak, a Saskatchewan girl who was shamed at her school when she was told her handmade ribbon skirt didn’t count as formal wear.
Late Thursday, the RCMP released a statement about how and why it altered the dress code, saying the initiative was led by a group representing more than 300 Indigenous members of the RCMP.
“Traditionally, the Ribbon skirt is a symbol of resilience, survival, identity and hope,” said the statement, circulated by Robin Percival, a spokeswoman for RCMP headquarters. The initiative went through broad consultations inside and outside the force, the statement said.
It said the ribbon skirt was approved at headquarters earlier this year and that it is to be worn mostly for ceremonial occasions, to replace the long blue skirts that female Mounties traditionally wear.
“The Ribbon Skirt is available to both serving and retired Indigenous members,” the RCMP statement said.
Other police forces in Canada allow their officers to wear ribbon skirts.
In his social-media post, Commissioner Duheme said the RCMP has previously allowed its Indigenous officers to wear other items, such as the Métis sash.
The RCMP, Canada’s largest police force, was created a century and a half ago and retains key roles in policing First Nations and Inuit communities outside Ontario and Quebec. Its current work force is about 7 per cent Indigenous. But several recent public inquiries have highlighted how the force has historically played a brutal role in enforcing government policies that aimed to suppress or eliminate Indigenous cultures.
Earlier this year, Auditor-General Karen Hogan released a report finding that the Mounties are not making inroads into many Indigenous communities that still depend on the RCMP for public safety and security.
“I’m not going to sugarcoat or try to downplay our role in the residential school system and what happened there,” Insp. Mueller said.
But she said she feels a strong responsibility to try to ensure the Mounties better protect Indigenous communities.
“We need to reconcile and come back together as a community,” she said. “Keeping First Nations and Métis communities safe in Canada is literally one of our top five priorities nationally.”