Case Study: Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) in Canada

Tamara Chipman & The Highway of Tears

The Case

Tamara Chipman was a lively young woman who grew up in Moricetown, British Columbia in Canada. She spent most of her childhood on her father Tom’s fishing boat, and developed an appreciation for the outdoors at an early age." She was the humor and the laughter behind all of us when we met for family gatherings,” her aunt Gladys Radek said. Her family recalls her sassy attitude, and the smile that lit up a room. Tamara’s loving personality and compassion for others was never more present than in her relationship with her two-year-old son, Jaden. “She was a strong woman who adored her little boy,” said Gladys. “She supported me through some of the toughest times in my life.” 

At 22 years old, Tamara disappeared, and Jaden saw his mother for the last time on September 21, 2005. She was last seen hitchhiking at Industrial Park, just outside of Prince Rupert along Highway 16 in British Columbia. Moricetown, a band of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation tribe, is located directly along Highway 16, and many speculate that Tamara was on her way home when she went missing. Her father Tom soon filed a missing persons report with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or RCMP, who launched an investigation into Tamara’s disappearance. “It’s not like her to pull a disappearing act like this,” he said. 

In December of that same year, friends, family and volunteers from the Moricetown Band organized a search party for Tamara that extended from Terrace to Prince Rupert where she was last seen, a stretch of about 90 miles along Highway 16. “There was a really good community response,” said Tom. “We had about a dozen people out each day for about two weeks, searching the highway and down all the side roads.” 

Though community efforts were hard-fought, searchers found no trace of Tamara. To make things worse, the RCMP failed to conduct any searches of their own, and as a result very little is known about the circumstances of her disappearance. More than a decade after Tamara was last seen, her family has given up on going to the authorities for answers. Her aunt Gladys says that she is unaware of any recent developments in Tamara’s case because the RCMP have been uncommunicative and failed to provide updates since 2013. Gladys, who was designated as Tamara’s official spokesperson by her family, believes this may have something to do with her niece’s Aboriginal status, or dismissive labels that have been applied to her. 

The media have used phrases like “sex worker” and “involved in risky behavior” to describe Tamara, the purpose of which Gladys says is to devalue her life and lower the importance of her finding her. “There was a lot of stuff I’ve seen online, such derogatory stuff,” she said. It has been made clear to the family that justice for Tamara is not a priority for the RCMP, and Gladys feels they have exhausted all their options. 

The Problem

Tamara Chipman is just one of many Indigenous women that have gone missing or been found murdered along Highway 16, otherwise known as the Highway of Tears. Beginning in the late 1960s, the cases of as many as 40 women and girls have been linked to the highway, a disproportionately high amount of which are of Aboriginal descent. Like Moricetown, 23 other First Nations tribes are located along the 450 mile stretch of road that runs between Prince George and Prince Rupert in British Columbia, Canada. What is more, these communities are marked with high levels of poverty, incarceration, and substance abuse, and lack basic necessities like safe drinking water and public transit. As a result, many First Nations residents lack viable economic opportunities, and many Indigenous women are forced to turn to sex work in order to support themselves and their children. And without enough income to afford a car or any form of reliable public transportation, hitchhiking becomes a popular form of travel. 

Considering that Highway 16 is extremely isolated, covered on both sides with dense forest, no street lights and very little traffic, predators have taken advantage of its natural scenery. People have said that this is the perfect place to commit a crime and go undetected, and an abundance of women (hitchhikers and sex workers, but others too) have fallen victim to these dangerous circumstances. So much so that the RCMP created an official task force that deals specifically with Highway of Tears cases, titled Project E-PANA. Local inhabitants believe the victim count to exceed 40, however Project E-PANA has 18 official open cases that they believe are linked to Highway 16, though no one truly knows how many women are connected. 

Shockingly, although Indigenous women only make up about 4% of Canada’s population, they represent 16% of all female homicide victims. According to Human Rights Watch, British Columbia has the highest rate of unsolved murders of Indigenous women and girls in all of Canada. This phenomenon is part of a larger, national crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls throughout Canada, of which the victim count is estimated to exceed 1,200. 

Despite this, in 2014, the RCMP reduced the budget for Project E-PANA by 84%. Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, stated, “It deeply angers me that in the face of this national disgrace, we have a government that is so dismissive of the issue that they refuse to invest resources or any real effort into addressing it.” When the project first began, 70 staff members were assigned to help work on its 18 cases. Today there are only 12 remaining investigators. 

Despite the fact that women and girls have been going missing and been found murdered for decades, police have little to show for in investigative accomplishments. Of the 18 official cases still open, no arrests have been made for the overwhelming majority of them. Though the remains of some victims have been found, most families remain unable to lay their mothers, sisters, and daughters to rest. Some advocacy groups have suggested that police are not concerned about the cases because they involve Aboriginal women, a charge authorities have vehemently denied. Gladys Radek however, Tamara’s aunt, says she has never been contacted by anyone from Project E-PANA, and that the authorities have had little to no support for Tamara’s family. 

“There’s not a day goes by that I don’t think of Tamara,” Gladys said. The same is true for countless other family members, who continue to grieve for their lost loved ones and feel that justice may never be found. 

Community Response

In 2006, First Nations tribes banded together to create a comprehensive report that would act as a call for action within the Highway of Tears community. The report puts forth 33 specific recommendations, as well as suggestions for implementation, to prioritize four factors: victim prevention, emergency planning and team response, victim family counseling and support, and community development and support. Among the most significant proposals is the creation of a shuttle bus transportation system that would allow all residents of the Highway 16 area to travel from town to town safely, easily, and affordably. This would work to limit hitchhiking and thus reduce susceptibility to predators and dangerous situations. Another focus is on breaking down communicative and cultural barriers between police and Indigenous communities. By doing so, orchestrators hope to foster long-term commitments to Project E-PANA, maintain open lines of communication between the RCMP and victims’ families, and create bonds that will contribute to more productive investigations. Other recommendations suggest increased police patrolling, media awareness campaigns, counseling for those experiencing grief or trauma, safe zones, and the establishment of a governing body that deals specifically with the Highway of Tears and its dangers. By providing such specific details, these tribes hope to transform ideas into direct action.

Though this report was a valuable step in the right direction, First Nations tribes would have to wait over a decade to see any returns on their call for action. It was not until 2015 that the British Columbian government announced a plan for the proposed transportation system along Highway 16, which was implemented another two years later in 2017. 

The new system remains flawed however, and local residents are calling for additional improvements. The shuttles are not free, only run on certain days of the week, and do not make stops at every Indigenous town. Each of these inadequacies continues to force people to hitchhike, and ultimately risk putting themselves in danger. “I've picked up a young lady, just outside of Smithers, to take her back to Moricetown because she had to go see a doctor. She was nine months pregnant," Gladys Radek said. Until there is free, widespread and week-long public transit, Indigenous women and girls will continue to be driven into vulnerable situations. This is something that Highway 16 First Nations tribes have recognized, and are continuously fighting for, along with better media coverage and investigative treatment of Aboriginal missing persons and homicide cases overall. 

Looking Forward

Gladys Radek, Tamara’s aunt, has been a trailblazer in this regard. She founded Walk4Justice, an organization dedicated to raising awareness for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. It organizes long-distance walks across Canada that seek to bring attention to the issue and find justice for victims. The first walk, which was held in 2008, spanned from Vancouver to Ottawa, an astounding 2,485 miles. The grassroots organization is made up of passionate Aboriginal activists who have called for a national public inquiry into these tragedies, in order to tackle the systemic causes of violence against women, including poverty, housing insecurity, human trafficking, and exploitation.

For over a decade, Gladys has kept the memory of Tamara alive by fighting for justice not only for her niece but also for the dozens of women and girls who have disappeared or been found murdered along the Highway of Tears. She is a champion of all those who have been forgotten by authorities, and of all families who continue to feel the pain of uncertainty and loss. “We won’t accept that Tamara’s gone, and we find it really hard to believe that the RCMP have put enough time and effort into investigating her disappearance,” said Gladys. “As we walked across the country, and along the Highway of Tears, we felt people’s pain and saw their tears. It has got to be Canada’s national disgrace.” 

The pain that these women and their families have endured will be forever felt among First Nations communities in British Columbia. Their continued mobilization and pressure on local authorities will remain vital to achieving justice for their loved ones. The vulnerabilities that Aboriginal women and girls face is something that cannot be ignored any longer. Both the media and the authorities must bring these cases into the spotlight to raise awareness and create a path forward for their protection. Only then can these women and girls truly be laid to rest.

Sources: 

- Bailey, Ian. "Budget cuts to RCMP's Highway of Tears probe greeted with anger in B.C." The Globe and Mail, The Globe and Mail Inc., 12 May 2018.
- Fournier, Suzanne. "Families of missing women march on." Canada.com, Canada.com, 21 Oct. 2009.
- "Highway of Tears." Crime Junkie, Apple Podcasts, 16 Dec. 2019.
- Kane, Laura. “Highway of Tears still needs public transit options, locals say.” The Globe and Mail, The Globe and Mail Inc., 1 Oct 2017.
- Kelly, Rudy. "Family searches for clues as seventh girl disappears." AMMSA.com, Aboriginal Multi-Media Society, 2006.
- Lheidli T'enneh First Nation, et al. "Highway of Tears Symposium Recommendations Report." 2006, pp. 1-35.
- Sterritt, Angela. "Missing, murdered aboriginal women honoured in marches." CBC News, CBC/Radio-Canada, 14 Feb. 2014.
- "Tamara Chipman." Justice for Native Women, 2 Feb. 2016.
- "Tamara Lynn Chipman." CBC News, CBC/Radio-Canada.