Highway of Tears
Since the late 1960s, many women have gone missing or been found murdered along the 724-kilometre length of Highway 16 – now commonly referred to as the Highway of Tears. Most of these victims were Indigenous women. The exact number of sisters who are missing or murdered is unknown.
2006 Highway of Tears Symposium
In 2006, the families of women and girls who had gone missing or been murdered along the Highway 16 corridor, together with Carrier Sekani Family Services (CSFS) and several other organizations, held a meeting to raise public awareness and create a call for action on this important issue. This meeting is now known as the Highway of Tears Symposium.
The Symposium had over 500 attendees, including service providers, First Nations community members, and victims’ family members. After the Symposium, a Report was published with 33 Recommendations to prevent further violence toward women and girls along the Highway 16 corridor.
RCMP’s Investigation
The RCMP’s investigation into the Highway 16 murders, referred to as Project E-PANA, began in the fall of 2005. In October 2007, the RCMP expanded the number of women in their investigation to 18 and increased its scope to approximately 1500 kilometers of highway, which included the Highway of Tears and parts of Highway 97 and Highway 5. The cases included in the project now ranged in date from 1969 to 2006. No new cases have been added to the RCMP investigation since 2006; however, women and girls still continue to experience violence along British Columbia highways.
How many sisters are missing?
There is still much debate over the exact number of women who have gone missing along Highway 16, but many people living in northern BC believe that the number exceeds 30. The CSFS Highway of Tears Initiative does not share the RCMP’s criteria for those on our “list” of Highway of Tears victims. We provide advocacy and support to all family members and friends that have lost a loved one to violence.
Highway of Tears Symposium Recommendations Report
In 2006, Carrier Sekani Family Services (CSFS) took part in a symposium to raise public awareness of the Highway of Tears and create a call for action. More than 500 people were in attendance including service providers, First Nations community members, and victims’ family members. 33 recommendations came out of this important meeting covering four key areas: victim prevention, emergency readiness, victim family support, and community development.
Each of these recommendations came from the understanding that the communities along Highway 16 share a situation of colonization resulting in experiences of poverty, violence, intergenerational trauma, cultural genocide, residential school impacts, and displacement from land.
The full Highway of Tears Symposium Recommendations Report can be downloaded below.