About Us
We would like to acknowledge the families and friends of the victims of the Highway of Tears, as well as all the other families across Canada that are missing their loved ones. It is their perseverance that brings us together and why we continue to identify violence against women, specifically Indigenous women, as an issue that affects us all.
Highway of Tears Governing Body
In 2006, families of missing and murdered Indigenous women from along the Highway of Tears, together with Carrier Sekani Family Services (CSFS) and several other organizations, hosted a symposium to raise public awareness and create a call for action. 33 Recommendations came out of this important meeting covering four key areas: Victim Prevention, Emergency Readiness, Victim Family Support, and Community Development.
The Highway of Tears Governing Body was formed as a result of one of the recommendations that came from the Highway of Tears Symposium Recommendations Report, and it provided direction and support to implement the remaining Recommendations.
The Governing Body was comprised of victims’ family members, RCMP, a representative from the Prince George Native Friendship Centre, a representative from the Ministry of Justice, the CSFS Highway of Tears Coordinator, and managers and directors from CSFS. It passionately advocated for the provincial and federal governments to fulfill their responsibility to support the implementation of the 33 Recommendations and, more recently, the 231 Calls for Justice that came from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
Our work is grounded in the memory of the missing and murdered loved ones that have been lost along the Highway of Tears and across Canada.
Carrier Sekani Family Services
Carrier Sekani Family Services (CSFS) under the guidance of Carrier Sekani Tribal Council (CSTC) has been given the mandate to establish a comprehensive infrastructure for social, health, and legal programs for the eventual take-over of these services, consistent with the CSTC objective of working towards Indigenous self-government.
Under its Certificate of Incorporation, the objectives of the Society are:
– To develop and deliver health, social, child welfare, and legal services in accordance with the needs, socio-economic conditions, and values and beliefs of the Carrier Sekani Nations.
– To deliver all services in accordance with our great law of sharing wealth as set out in our Balhats (potlatch) system.
– To develop, implement and enhance Carrier human services philosophies and standards of Indigenous people residing in Carrier Sekani territory.
– To encourage and initiate activities appropriate to the strengthening and unifying of human service personnel in Carrier Sekani territory.
– To develop and deliver training programs for the advancement and accreditation of human service workers in Carrier Sekani territory in accordance with Carrier Sekani philosophies and standards.
Services are adapted to meet the needs of our community members through ongoing formal and informal consultations with community, external and internal program evaluations where input is gathered from a wide variety of sources, and from identification of gaps in service delivery in the community.
For more information, please visit the Carrier Sekani Family Services website at www.csfs.org, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube or Instagram.
CSFS Calls for Justice Program
The Calls for Justice program at Carrier Sekani Family Services (CSFS) addresses the historical and systemic issues that have contributed to the disappearances and murders of Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people along the Highway of Tears. We advocate for their safety in alignment with the 33 Recommendations from the 2006 Highway of Tears Symposium Report and the 231 Calls for Justice from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
In addition, our program also provides violence prevention and awareness education to individuals, communities, and service providers in north central British Columbia.
For more information about the CSFS Calls for Justice program, please visit our webpage: Highway of Tears Initiative- Calls for Justice | Carrier Sekani Family Services.