Stretch of Highway 16 corridor, infamous for disappearances and murders of Indigenous women
For other uses, see Highway of Tears (disambiguation).
Highway of Tears
Details
Victims
80+, known as missing and murdered Indigenous women
Span of crimes
1970–present
Country
Canada
Location(s)
Prince George, British Columbia Prince Rupert, British Columbia
The Highway of Tears is a 719-kilometre (447 mi) corridor of Highway 16 between Prince George and Prince Rupert in British Columbia, Canada, which has been the location of crimes against many Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) beginning in 1970. The phrase was coined during a vigil held in Terrace, British Columbia in 1998, by Florence Naziel, who was thinking of the victims' families crying over their loved ones.[1] There are a disproportionately high number of Indigenous women on the list of victims.
Proposed explanations for the years-long endurance of the crimes and the limited progress in identifying culprits include poverty, drug abuse, widespread domestic violence, disconnection with traditional culture and disruption of the family unit through the foster care system and Canadian Indian residential school system.[2][3][4][5] Poverty in particular leads to low rates of car ownership and mobility; thus, hitchhiking is often the only way for many to travel vast distances to see family or go to work, school, or seek medical treatment. The lack of public transportation options is a major factor. There is no bus service available between most northern communities and other cities. Because the BC provincial government has not created feasible alternatives to hitchhiking, people who must travel are placed in extremely vulnerable situations.
Another factor leading to abductions and murders is that the area is largely isolated and remote, with soft soil in many areas and carnivorous scavengers to carry away human remains; these factors precipitate violent attacks, as perpetrators feel a sense of impunity, privacy, and the ability to easily carry out their crimes and hide evidence.[6][7][8]
External videos
B.C.‘s infamous Highway of Tears, CBC Archives, 2:32, 21 June 2006, reported by Miyoung Lee[2]
^"Murdered and missing native women remain unsolved mysteries". Terrace Standard. 30 September 1998.
^ abLee, Miyoung (17 November 2009). "BC's infamous 'Highway of Tears'". CBC Digital Archives. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
^"Highway of Vanishing Women", Daily Beast, 10 July 2011
^Tallman, Rebecca A. (2014). Representations of security and insecurity in the Highway of Tears (MA thesis). University of Northern British Columbia. OCLC 1330564799.
^"The Taken: Who qualifies as a serial killer and more on the data behind the project". Retrieved 5 February 2019.
^Lovegrove, Donald (23 February 2013). "Northern BC & Haida Gwaii". British Columbia Travel and Adventure Vacations. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
^Cite error: The named reference :28 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Soils of the Prince George, McLeod Lake area – MOE Technical Document 29" (PDF). Ministry of Environment.
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Global Information
B.C.‘s infamous Highway of Tears, CBC Archives, 2:32, 21 June 2006, reported by Miyoung Lee[2]