Current Problems

Call to Action # 41 : Justice (25-42)

New billboards for missing and murdered women aim to change narrative of B.C.’s ‘Highway of Tears’

August 15, 2023

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New signs emphasize strength and hope of Indigenous women and communities

Indigenous people, some wearing ribbon skirts and traditional jewelry, stand by a sign that's just been unveiled. The black, white, and red sign says, 'We are hope. We are strength. Keep Highway 16 safe.'
A new billboard is unveiled that will honour missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls along the highway route where many have died or disappeared. (Betsy Trumpener/CBC )

CBC News: Families of missing and murdered Indigenous women in northern B.C. and an Indigenous social service agency have unveiled four new billboards to honour and remember the women and girls who’ve died or disappeared along a notorious highway that’s been dubbed the Highway of Tears.

The route has been called the Highway of Tears because more than 40 women and girls, mostly Indigenous, have gone missing or been murdered along the 700-kilometre stretch of Highway 16 between Prince George and Prince Rupert in northern B.C. since 1969. 

For years, billboards on Highway 16 have warned girls not to hitchhike, with the message “Killer on the Loose.” 

A large, yellow billboard stands beside a highway through thick forest. The billboard, marked Highway of Tears, advises girls not to hitchhike and warns of a Killer on the Loose.
For years, this prominent billboard on Highway 16 in northern B.C. has warned of a “Killer on the Loose!’ Now, families of missing and murdered Indigenous women are putting up new billboards that emphasize resilience and hope. (CBC )

At a ceremony in Prince George on Tuesday morning, a prototype of the new highway billboard was unveiled as family members of missing and murdered women hugged and wept, passing out tissues.

The families say the new billboards emphasize hope and the resilience of Indigenous families and communities rather than fear and vulnerability and put the onus on all highway travellers to keep the route safe.

“We really want to switch the message and the narrative that has been going on about this place of despair and loss and pain. We want to acknowledge that this is our home. This is beautiful territory, and that we all deserve to be safe and protected,” said Julie Daum, executive director of justice at Carrier Sekani Family Services, which partnered with families to create the billboard.

A bold sign in black, white, and red states, 'We are hope. We are strength. Keep Highway 16 safe.'
Families of missing and murdered women in northern B.C. have joined with Carrier Sekani Family Services to erect new billboards on a highway where many Indigenous women and girls have gone missing or been murdered. (Carrier Sekani Family Services/Contributed )

Matilda Wilson says she draws strength from the message on the billboards. Her daughter, Ramona Wilson, was 16 years old when she disappeared in Smithers in 1994 and was later found murdered. Now, 29 years later, Wilson says she hasn’t given up hope her daughter’s killer will be found.

“Every day, I think of my little baby. She wants me to prevent this from happening again.” 

Mary Teegee, Carrier Sekani’s executive director of Child and Family Services, is Ramona’s cousin.

“This is personal for me. We don’t want to be victims anymore. We’re done.”

“We wanted to make sure our young women understood … that it’s not something that they have done. We want to make sure that they understand we are hope, and we are strength.”

An Indigenous woman wearing a jean jacket, hat, traditional beaded earrings and a necklace looks sombre.
Matilda Wilson’s daughter, Ramona, was 16 when she disappeared in Smithers, B.C., a town on Highway 16. and was later found murdered. Twenty-nine years later, the case is still unsolved. ‘I never give up hope her killer will be found,’ she said. (Betsy Trumpener/CBC )

The new billboards are scheduled to be set up this month along the route between Prince George and Prince Rupert. 

Teegee says her agency has asked the Ministry of Transportation to consider changing the name of Highway 16 to Highway of Hope. Her group also has plans to erect carved cedar memorial poles along the route to honour the woman and girls who have died.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Betsy Trumpener

Reporter-Editor, CBC News

Betsy Trumpener has won numerous journalism awards, including a national network award for radio documentary and the Adrienne Clarkson Diversity Award. Based in Prince George, B.C., Betsy has reported on everything from hip hop in Tanzania to B.C.’s energy industry and the Paralympics.