Highway of Tears symposium underway

“I think we all get tired. I think our spirit gets drained a bit, but I think, you know, it’s this important work that has to be done,” says Mary Teegee-Gray, CAO for Carrier Sekani Family Service, who has been on this matter since the inception. “There’s that old saying, if not me, then who? I think we all have to take that type of stance. I’ve been blessed by the Creator to have a national platform, so I’m going to use my voice to help those who don’t have a voice.”

And the list of young girls and women is lengthy and vast from Cecelia Nikal who disappeared in 1989 near Smithers, Alisha Germaine who disappeared from Prince George in 1994 and Ramona Wilson who went missing in 1995 near Smithers.

“Twenty years ago there was absolutely nothing in place for missing and murdered Indigenous people. There was nothing,” says Brenda Wilson. “And today we have programs.”

A report, complete with 33 recommendations came of the original symposium. Where is it today?

“The recommendations are sacred words because this came from families of the victims,” says Teegee-Gray. “And some of those members that were there 20 years ago are no longer with us. And of course, in 20 years, we’ve lost more and more young girls and more women, not only in British Columbia but across Canada. So it’s still a real issue.”

And Ramona’s sister and long-time advocate, Brenda Wilson, is worried the message is getting lost in the noise.

“It really took a lot of work to make this happen because nobody was listening. The higher ups, the governments weren’t listening to us. It’s like this needs to happen to work on those recommendations. Those were 33 recommendations that the families brought together. Now you’ve done the national inquiry and now you have more recommendations. It’s just, like, when are you going to finish working on the 33?”

The symposium will run the course of this week, with a special unveiling on Friday.

by Cheryl Jahn

Highway of Tears symposium underway

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