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The tale begins on a stretch of 724-kilometer highway in the Canadian province of British Columbia, where countless women and girls have gone missing.  Worse yet, numerous others are known to have been murdered. Maybe some people have heard of this disturbing pathway from Prince Rupert to Prince George, though maybe some have not (1).

The upsetting reason for that may be that, even though women and girls have gone missing, they were overlooked because they were deemed less important than others. 

Don`t forget that monsters are not always misunderstood.  Some walk in plain sight, spreading generational hate stemming from old notions born from falsehoods. The Indigenous peoples of North America have encountered countless years of governmental abuse and negligence since the Europeans arrived on this continent.

The Highway of Tears

 is a stark and disturbing insight into how a country, a province, and a people, can turn away from a vulnerable community and completely ignore its needs— not just in life, but in countless deaths that never should have come to pass.

 

An official investigation was opened by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in 2005. Eighteen women were included in the investigation (2). Bear with me, because the following information may be hard to stomach.

These eighteen cases range from 1969 to 2006 (2).  That is thirty-seven years of silence.  Thirty-seven years of burying the proverbial head in the sand and ignoring the fact that there was a problem.  It was almost four decades of violence and loss that were not just ignored, but avoided by communities and authorities who judged these women as unimportant because they came from impoverished communities.

 

Another startling reality is that the violence toward Indigenous women and girls is not unique to British Columbia`s Highway of Tears (1). This horrific reality is actually rampant across the entire country of Canada. In 2015, an inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls was launched by the Canadian government under Carolyn Bennett, who was the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs (1).  The number of women and girls missing across Canada was claimed to be over twelve-hundred. 

Is that the real number?  How many more over twelve-hundred could there be?  Why did it take from 1969 until 2015 to look into the murders and disappearances of so many women and young girls?

The unspoken answer that everyone knows to be the truth is that those women and girls were deemed less important because they were Indigenous. To put into context the harrowing disparity that exists between Indigenous women and white women, Statistics Canada released a report in 2023.

Some of the information gathered included:

• • “Indigenous women and girls were 6x more likely to be murdered than other groups of people in Canada (3).“

• • “Indigenous women/girls are 2-3% of the Canadian population however represent 5-7% of homicide victims (3).“

 

Some cases have been solved, some have not, and others may never be known. The negligence carried out by communities and the police, along with deranged stereotypes and an unmoved public, is not just embarrassing, but a monstrous look into who we are as a society.

Those of us who say nothing, who involve ourselves in a cause only when it suits us—how are we any better than the murderers who struck down these women and children?

How can we, as a society, do better?

Red Dress Day 

In 2010, Metis artist Jamie Black began the REDdress Project in Canada.  She hung red dresses in public spaces to call attention to the women and girls who went missing or were murdered (4).

Hearing a number is one thing, but imagine walking into a space where countless red dresses are suspended throughout  the cityscape. There are no bodies, just empty crimson gowns hanging like silent ghosts. That is an image that would create quite an impact.  

 

It serves as a visual reminder that lives were lost needlessly because prejudice overshadowed basic human decency.  

On May 5, Canada observes Red Dress Day. People hang red dresses in public areas, wear jewelry in the shape of a red dress, and paint red hand prints on their faces to honor those lost as they continue the fight for justice (4). There are rallies across the country where Indigenous people and allies alike can join together for a most worthy cause.

Some tragedies come quick, striking down the innocent with little regard to race, age, or gender.

Other tragedies are born from ignorance, negligence, and silence.  These are preventable, and yet they continue to happen day in and day out.

 

When do we stop sitting in silence?

When do we stop being part of the problem?

The answer is, now.  Ask questions, research, and get out and talk to an Indigenous person who will tell you truths that are uncomfortable to hear.  We should be uncomfortable. Those truths should be unpleasant. If they weren’t, then nothing would change.

Change is what we need if we are to do better.  

Make sure the bad monsters are scared of intelligence and the deafening scream of defiance.  

Thank you for joining me for this short look into a harrowing reality. As always, my sweet monsters, question everything. If you would like more topics like this, drop a comment below.  It’s always appreciated when you hit the like and subscribe button.

Until next time, go out into the world and use your voice for change.  

 

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