Highway of Tears

By: Jessica McDiarmid

Narrated by: Emily Nixon

“These murder cases expose systemic problems... By examining each murder within the context of Indigenous identity and regional hardships, McDiarmid addresses these very issues, finding reasons to look for the deeper roots of each act of violence.” (The New York Times Book Review)

In the vein of the best sellers I’ll Be Gone in the Dark and The Line Becomes a River, a penetrating, deeply moving account of the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls of Highway 16, and a searing indictment of the society that failed them.

For decades, Indigenous women and girls have gone missing or been found murdered along an isolated stretch of highway in Northwestern British Columbia. The corridor is known as the Highway of Tears, and it has come to symbolize a national crisis. Journalist Jessica McDiarmid meticulously investigates the devastating effect these tragedies have had on the families of the victims and their communities and how systemic racism and indifference have created a climate in which Indigenous women and girls are overpoliced yet underprotected. McDiarmid interviews those closest to the victims - mothers and fathers, siblings and friends - and provides an intimate firsthand account of their loss and unflagging fight for justice. Examining the historically fraught social and cultural tensions between settlers and Indigenous peoples in the region, McDiarmid links these cases to others across Canada - now estimated to number up to 4,000 - contextualizing them within a broader examination of the undervaluing of Indigenous lives in the country.

Highway of Tears is a piercing exploration of our ongoing failure to provide justice for the victims and a testament to their families’ and communities’ unwavering determination to find it.

©2019 Jessica McDiarmid (P)2019 Simon & Schuster

Must Read

Really good and shocking story. Hard to believe this is still happening in Canada.

Poignant and disturbing

Everyone should be disturbed listening to this tragedy. Perhaps better phrasing would be the repeatedly disregarded series of tragedies befalling young indigenous woman and girls. It's sad to say, but even more troubling is the appalling indifference of law enforcement and government agencies. Anyone who's had dealings with those institutions from a place of relative security, can only imagine the egregious apathy which faced those who are young, poor, indigenous, female, most who live in challenging economic circumstances. That alone should infuriate anyone listening. There is a lot of police doublespeak and government inertia. Then followed by promises, mostly broken, and those kept, ineptly implemented.

I may have liked it if author had delved more deeply into that very indifference. By portraying a young woman as "fiesty, fiery and didn't take crap from anyone", one can imagine those of a certain craven mindset viewing her (absolutely unfairly) as having been deserving whatever came her way. Distasteful as it is, I think most people can no doubt understand how that dismissiveness can be rationalized, if not condoned. It's imperative to confront and demolish those biases. But perhaps that's another book. Similarly, a few non-indigenous victims are detailed, specifically focusing on the discrepancy in police and media attention paid to them, as compared to the indigenous women and girls. But the author deftly presents this affront, without disrespecting the non-indigenous women and girls. Perhaps more could be made of that injustice of unequal attention, and not just on government, law enforcement and media, but on all of us, and all of our biases. Maybe that's another book, too. But these are mere quibbles. This book is necessary and important and heartbreaking. We all need to do more to help.

Stop the Violence!

Focusing on missing and murdered First Nation women in Canada, this could happen to anyone.

unbelievable sad injustice toward native women

heartbreaking, eye opener, I felt profound empathy and pain for what native american women go through. The Canadian and american white Male law enforcement and government should be ashamed.

Important to humanize the invisible

This was an eye-opener about how often and in what similar ways Indigenous girls and women are disappearing with little government or press attention wirh families searching endlessly.

Love the Book, Hate the Story

I loved this heartbreaking book and couldn't stop listening, but I hate the way Canada treats it's indigenous people. It shares a lot of comparisons with the US in their treatment of Native Americans. They couldn't exterminate us, so they want to marginalize us. They ignore our needs and, at the same time, are subtly undermining our cultures and sovereignty status so they can someday say that there are no more Native American nations and they can finish taking everything away from us.

So Very Sad

It is so very sad that Canada has not helped more of its indigenous families to learn what has become of the thousands of missing / murdered girls & women.

Brought me to tears more than once

The stories of missing and murdered indigenous women in Canada. The stories are heartbreaking. I cried more than once.

the injustice by the police the sadness of the families

very well done I have been looking for more information on the highway of tears this was great sad but great

"Highway of tears" by Jessica MvDiarmid

Heart wrenching, very disruptive & well writen. I am so moved, I am unable to comp!ete it.