REPRESENTATIONS OF SECURITY AND INSECURITY IN THE HIGHWAY
OF TEARS: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

by

Rebecca A. Tallman
B.A., Brock University, 2007

THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF ARTS
IN
INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA
July 2014

© Rebecca A. Tallman, 2014

UMI Number: 1526516

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ABSTRACT

The Highway o f Tears is a local term that refers to a stretch o f highway in
northern British Columbia where an estimated 18 to 35 women and girls have
disappeared or have been found murdered since the 1960s (Culbert and Hall 2009).
Drawing on feminist approaches to security and International Relations, this thesis
explores the concepts of security and insecurity in the case of the Highway of Tears. I use
critical discourse analysis to answer the following question: How are the concepts of
security and insecurity represented in the discourse o f select media related to the
Highway of Tears? It was seen that each narrator framed and located security and
insecurity differently. Despite varying individual assumptions, the concepts o f security
and insecurity were represented by two broad shared understandings o f security in the
context o f the Highway of Tears. These shared understandings uncovered a tension in the
discourse between traditional conceptions of security and critical, feminist and
Indigenous approaches to security. Ultimately, this research has disrupted mainstream
assumptions o f International Relations and security. Therefore, it provides new insights
into research and advocacy for murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls in
northern British Columbia and across Canada.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract

ii

Table of Contents

iii

List of Acronyms

v

List of Figures

vi

Acknowledgements & Dedication

vii

Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Introduction
1.2 My Research Journey: How did I get here?
1.3 Research Objectives, Question and ThesisStatement
1.4 Chapter Summary
1.5 Contributions and Conclusion

1
1
2
7
9
14

Chapter 2: Review o f the Literature
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Unpacking the Theory of Security
2.3 Maria Stem: Security and Identity
2.4 Critiques of Feminist Security Studies
2.5 Conclusion

15
15
16
22
26
29

Chapter 3: Methodology
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Feminist International Relations: Approaches to Research
3.3 Research Methodology
3.4 Conclusion

31
31
31
36
44

Chapter 4: Case Study: The Highway o f Tears
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women: A National Epidemic
4.3 The Highway o f Tears and its Investigation
4.4 Memorial, Activism and Policy Recommendations
4.5 Conclusion

45
45
46
48
55
61

Chapter 5: Representations of Security & Insecurity in the Media Discourse of the
Highway of Tears
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Key Words and Identifiers of Security and Insecurity
5.3 Safety and Protection
5.4 Vulnerability and Protection: Who Counts?
5.5 Narrators o f Security: Locating Security and Insecurity in the Discourse
5.6 Conclusion

63
63
63
70
77
84
96

iii

Chapter 6: Analysis and Conclusion
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Reflections and Conclusions
6.3 Contributions
6.4 Conclusion

98
98
99
108
113

Works Cited

116

Appendices
Appendix A: Template

129
129

iv

ACRONYMS
BC
MLA
NDP
NGOs
NWAC
IR
RCMP
UN

British Columbia
Member of Legislative Assembly
New Democratic Party
Nongovernmental Organizations
Native Women's Association of Canada
International Relations
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
United Nations

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 - Map: The Highway of Tears

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & DEDICATION

This work is dedicated to Loretta Saunders, a young Inuk woman who went missing and
was found murdered in February 2014. Loretta was a student at St. Mary’s University
researching missing and murdered Indigenous women. If I could honour her in any way it
would be through this research. This work is also dedicated to the 1,181 Indigenous
women and girls who have disappeared or been found murdered across Canada.
I would like to thank my supervisor, Heather Smith, who sacrificed so much of her time
and energy so that I could be successful in writing this thesis. Thank you for advocating
for my success, pushing me when I needed it, giving me time when I needed it and for
always coaching me along the way.
To my committee members, Paul Bowles and Tina Fraser, you were both incredible
throughout this entire journey. Thank you for supporting me and guiding me through this
process.
To my sounding board, Charelle, who by now likely knows more about my thesis than I
do. Thank you for always lending your time and your ear so that I could vent and work
through the struggles I faced during this research.
And finally, to my patient and supportive husband Samuel. Thank you for always being
there and for supporting me without question over the past three years. And more
importantly thank you for hopping in a truck and moving to BC with me, it’s been an
incredible journey and I would not have done it with anyone else.
Without each of your sacrifices and unconditional support this work would not have been
possible, for this I will always be grateful. Thank you.

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 - Introduction

In 1998 families and community members gathered in the town o f Terrace,
British Columbia to remember six First Nations1 women who had disappeared over the
previous ten years along Highway 16 (Terrace Standard 1998). Those in attendance held
up photos in memory of missing daughters, sisters, granddaughters, mothers and friends
(ibid). This event marked the first time the term “The Highway of Tears” was used to
describe the alarming number of missing and murdered women and girls in Northern
British Columbia (Rolston 2010; Terrace Standard 1998). Since the 1960s an estimated
18-35 women and girls have gone missing or have been found murdered along highways
in northern and central British Columbia (Human Rights Watch 2013; Culbert and Hall
2009). A majority of the missing women and girls are of First Nations descent and range
between the ages of 12 and 33 (Culbert and Hall 2009).

The high rates of violence experienced by women and girls in Canada,
particularly Indigenous women, are a part of a national epidemic (Human Rights Watch
2013, 7). Despite calls for action from a number of human rights groups, communities,
families, and government officials, Indigenous women and girls continue to go missing or

1 In this thesis I use the term s “Indigenous”, “First N ations” and “A boriginal” to refer to the ethnicity o f
a number o f the missing and murdered w om en along the Highway o f Tears. These term s are the most
common terms used in the literature around missing and murdered women and girls in Canada. W hile these
term s vary in their meaning, they are all used to represent the first inhabitants o f Canada. The terms
“Indigenous” and “A boriginal” are umbrella terms that refer to First Nations, M etis and Inuit peoples
(University o f British Columbia 2009). Aboriginal is m ost often used in the national context by the federal
government while Indigenous is common language used in the global context o f missing and murdered
women. The term “First N ations” is used to describe Aboriginal peoples o f Canada who are ethnically not
M etis or Inuit (ibid). In the literature, First Nations is m ost often used in the local context o f the Highway
o f Tears. D epending on the context, I will be using each o f these terms throughout my research.

1

be murdered across Canada in unacceptable numbers (Amnesty International 2009;
Human Rights Watch 2013). The case o f the Highway of Tears is a local site where
widespread and targeted violence has threatened the safety of women and girls for
decades.

In this thesis I frame the Highway o f Tears as a site o f security and insecurity. In
order to do this, I explore how the concepts of security and insecurity are represented in
select media discourse of the Highway of Tears. It will be seen that while each narrator
will frame and locate security and insecurity differently there will be shared
understandings of what it means to be secure and insecure in the context of the Highway
o f Tears. These shared understandings uncover a tension in the discourse between
traditional conceptions of security and critical, feminist and Indigenous approaches to
security. In this chapter I will reflect on my research journey that shaped this thesis. I will
introduce the research objectives of this work, identify my research question and provide
my thesis statement. I will then summarize the chapters that make up this thesis. I
conclude by reflecting on the broader contributions my work will make to the field of
International Relations.

1.2 - My Research Journey: How did I get here?

Before I describe my research objectives, questions and thesis statement, it is
important that I first reflect on how I got to these points. The story o f how I came to this
research is an important deliberative moment that has not only shaped how I define
myself as a researcher, it has also informed how I theorize and understand International

2

Relations (Ackerly and True 2010,42). This in turn has impacted how I have engaged in
this research.

This research began when my understanding of what constituted International
Relations was disrupted. In my previous studies I was trained primarily in traditional and
positivist approaches2 to International Relations (IR). Therefore, my understanding of
security was limited to the state and its borders. However, when I began my graduate
course work these assumptions were challenged. In the IR theory class that I took as a
requirement for my graduate degree I was introduced to critical theory and feminist
theory. Engaging with these theoretical approaches challenged the way in which I was
trained and made me realize that IR involves much more than just the state and its
actions. Towards the end of this course I wrote a research paper on feminist IR theory
and the Highway of Tears. This was the first time I engaged in feminist research. While
this approach disrupted my previous assumptions about what constitutes IR, it was the
first time I understood the processes of international politics to be on the ground and
influenced by everyday people. I saw the transformative and emancipatory nature of
feminist theory as a means to engage with issues of social justice and social change in
international politics. As I explored the literature of feminist IR theory I was particularly
challenged by Cynthia Enloe’s work in unconventional sites of IR and the everyday as a
site of International Relations (Enloe 1990; 2004) as well as Brooke Ackerly and Jacquie
True’s work on the feminist research ethic (Ackerly and Tme 2010). This led me to
discover the work of Maria Stem on security and identity in marginalized spaces that has
2 In the field o f International Relations, positivist theory is based on empirical and scientific approaches
to research. This theory suggests that all research m ust be practical, accurate, falsifiable and scientifically
sound (Vasquez 1995, 230-232).

3

served as a framework for most of my thesis work (Stem 2005; 2006). Because o f this
research I began to realize that the Highway o f Tears represented an important site for
studying security and insecurity and a means to challenge traditional assumptions of
International Relations. This ultimately led me to choose feminist security studies and
feminist IR theory as the theoretical foundation for this thesis.

As I mentioned earlier, I was first introduced to the case o f the Highway of Tears
towards the end of my graduate course work. I chose this case because my supervisor, Dr.
Heather Smith, was also working on research on the Highway of Tears and I wanted to
make sure that my own topic was relevant to the work of my supervisor. The research
paper that I wrote for my theory course was the first time that I had heard o f the Highway
of Tears. This story impacted me in two ways. First, the evidence of gendered colonial
violence, poverty and structural issues connected to the Highway o f Tears were not
unlike the stories that I had heard from many of my friends growing up. I grew up in a
small rural community in Northern Ontario just down the road from the Anishinaabe
reserve of M'Chigeeng. Growing up I had many friends who were First Nations and was
very familiar with Ojibway culture, history and political struggles. The story of the
Highway of Tears seemed all too familiar and reminded me o f the importance o f telling
these stories. Second, the local story of the Highway of Tears struck me as too important
to ignore. Through the lens o f feminist International Relations, I saw the opportunity to
share the story of the Highway of Tears not only to challenge the discipline of
International Relations but to also advocate for social change. By studying the Highway
of Tears I was introduced to Indigenous knowledge and methodologies that challenged
my research self in a way I never could have expected.

Dr. Tina Fraser introduced me to the literature on Indigenous knowledge and
methodologies while I was working on a research project with my supervisor. These
approaches challenged the way in which I was trained even more than feminist and
critical theory had. Engaging with Indigenous ways o f knowing was a very challenging
and eye opening experience. This process reminded me that telling the stories of the
Indigenous women along the Highway o f Tears is important. However, it must be done in
a way that is respectful, relevant, reciprocal and conscious of rights (Kirkness and
Bamhardt 1991). After spending several months reading about Indigenous ways of
knowing from scholars like Linda Tuhiwai-Smith (1999), Marie Battiste (2000) and
Margaret Kovach (2009) I had two reactions. First, I felt that my research had to include
Indigenous methodologies because decolonizing the discipline was how I was going to
make my research both meaningful and transformative. Second, I had an overwhelming
feeling of guilt for being the descendent of European colonists and perpetuating colonial
practices in Canada. Most o f this guilt came out in my writing o f the first draft o f this
thesis. While I tried my best to include Indigenous methodologies in this research, it was
a conversation with Indigenous scholar Margaret Kovach that ultimately made me realize
this is simply not possible. In this conversation, Dr. Kovach told me that its okay to not
pursue Indigenous research because I do not have the proper relationships within the
community and I do not have the historical or cultural background that would allow me
to share these stories in a meaningful way. She encouraged me to be attentive to
Indigenous ways o f knowing in my research but reminded me that its okay not to include
these ways o f knowing if I do not feel like I have the background to do so. Because of
this conversation I came to realize that I couldn’t engage in Indigenous methodologies in

5

my own research because I do not have the proper knowledge or experience to conduct
research in this way. However, as a Western scholar I can still challenge my discipline by
engaging with critiques from Indigenous scholars.

My role as a researcher is one of the biggest challenges to this research.
Therefore, it is important that I also situate myself as a researcher in the context of the
Highway of Tears. While I situate myself first as a critical feminist researcher in the field
of International Relations, in order to reconcile my own concerns about power and
privilege I have also chosen to situate myself as an “advocacy researcher” (Cherland and
Harper 2007; Mckenzie 2010). Advocacy research is “research and scholarship for
transformation and a more compassionate and equitable world. It stands in solidarity with
oppressed peoples and communities and works to improve their material, economic and
political circumstances” (Cherland and Harper 2007, 3-4). As a white settler woman of
primarily European ancestry I recognize that I am awarded certain privileges within neo­
colonial Canadian society because I am a descendent o f colonists (adapted from
Mckenzie 2010,144). By identifying myself as an advocacy researcher I recognize the
importance o f Indigenous perspectives, knowledge and methodologies and cultural safety
when conducting research in Indigenous spaces. However, because of my identity and
history I also recognize that it is difficult to conduct research through the lens of
Indigenous methodologies because these are not my stories. Instead I have chosen to
conduct this research as guided by a feminist research ethic in International Relations
using critical discourse analysis.

Despite the challenges that I faced in my research process, it is important to
acknowledge that as I moved through this thesis, there are elements of my research that

6

required “on-going self-conscious reflection” (Ackerly and True 2010, 43). As a feminist
researcher, this often entailed deliberative reflection throughout every aspect o f this
thesis. Research findings often led me to new questions, which then forced me to re­
evaluate my research plan (Ackerly and True 2010, 42). The deliberative moments in my
research process where I stopped and reassessed my research plan were to ensure that I
was answering my research question and also being attentive to a feminist research ethic
(ibid).

My research journey has led me down a winding path full of roadblocks and
detours that caused me to stop and be deliberate in my reflections. Through this process I
have come to understand the importance of conducting research in unconventional sites
and challenging the dominant assumptions o f International Relations. This journey
allowed me to establish my research objectives, research question and thesis statement.
These components of my thesis will be described below.

1.3 - Research Objectives, Questions and Thesis Statement

The Highway of Tears may not be considered a traditional site of security because
it is not a conflict zone or a military base. However, it is a site of targeted structural
violence that places women and girls, particularly those of First Nations descent, at risk
on a daily basis. This is a space where security and insecurity can be located and
understood. A variety o f work has been done on the issue of missing and murdered
Indigenous women in the field of human rights (Aleem 2009; Amnesty International
2009; Human Rights Watch 2013); politics and economics (Peach and Ladner 2010);
media studies (Chief Elk 2014; Gilchrist 2004; Mckenzie 2010; Rolston 2010); and

7

Indigenous studies and activism (Anderson et al 2010; McNeill 2008). However, little has
been done to frame this issue as an issue of security and insecurity3. Using a feminist IR
framework, the first objective of this thesis is to frame the case study o f the Highway of
Tears as an issue of security and insecurity. The second objective o f this work is to
examine how the concepts of security and insecurity have been represented in select
media discourse of the Highway of Tears.

Informed by the work of feminist scholar Maria Stem (2005), my research question
is: How are the concepts of security and insecurity represented in the discourse o f select
media related to the Highway o f Tears? In order to answer this question, I will conduct
critical discourse analysis of mainstream newspaper articles related to the Highway of
Tears. To answer my research question I created three sub-questions adapted from the
work of Maria Stem to guide my research and analysis:

1. What words are used to describe security and insecurity in the Highway of Tears?
2. Who/what brings safety/protection and who/what needs protection? What does
protection look like?
3. How/where do narrators (family, community, government, RCMP) name/locate
evidence or experiences of security/insecurity? (Adapted from Stem 2005)

By answering these questions, it will be seen that each narrator will frame and locate
security and insecurity differently within the discourse. Despite varying individual
assumptions about security, the concepts of security and insecurity will be represented by
shared understandings o f what it means to be secure and insecure in the context o f the

3 This thesis recognizes that for many living in the region o f Northern BC the Highway o f Tears already
represents a site o f insecurity because women and girls are at a higher risk o f experiencing violence.
However, this research seeks to explore the Highway o f Tears as a site o f security and insecurity in the
field o f International Relations.

8

Highway of Tears. These shared understandings uncover a tension in the discourse
between traditional conceptions of security and critical, feminist and Indigenous
approaches to security. The means by which I answered these questions involved a series
o f steps that are described in more detail in the following section.

1.4 - Chapter Summary

In order to answer my research question I followed a series of different steps.
Each of these steps provided more depth to my research process, which will be seen in
the following chapters of this thesis. This chapter is the first of six chapters that make up
this thesis. In this section I will summarize these chapters and explain how each chapter
has helped to answer my research question.

The second chapter o f this thesis explores how the idea o f security has been
conceptualized in the field of International Relations. More specifically, I focus on
unpacking traditional approaches to security, critical security studies and feminist
security studies. I then outline the work of feminist scholar Maria Stem and her research
on security in unconventional sites. Finally, I describe the common critiques to feminist
security studies and how I intend to address them in my research. The purpose of this
chapter is to outline the theoretical foundation that informs my research questions and
analysis.

From a theoretical standpoint, my work is informed by the literature on feminist
security studies in International Relations (IR). Drawing on the work of feminist IR
scholars, feminist security scholars address security in three ways. First, feminist
approaches to security explore the relationship between gender, violence, war and

9

militarization (Enloe 1009; Tickner 1992; 2006; Wibben 2011). They ask important
questions that seek to uncover women in the discourse and practice of security. Second,
feminist scholars seek to challenge mainstream and traditional ideas of what it means to
be secure (Stem 2005; Tickner 1992). Where dominant schools of thought in security
studies fail to address the complexity of women’s lives and instead focus on the state as
the central referent object to be secured (Walt 1991,212), feminist scholars seek to bring
women’s voices to the forefront of International Relations. And third, feminist scholars
study the concept of security in unconventional sites rarely considered by traditional IR
scholars (Enloe 1990; 2004; D ’Costa 2006; Jacoby 2006; Stem 2005; 2006; Zalewski
2006). By studying security in unconventional sites feminist scholars seek to broaden our
understanding of security and insecurity (D’Costa 2006; Jacoby 2006; Stem 2006;
Wibben 2011) to include the effects of structural inequalities such as race, class and
gender (Tickner 2006; D ’Costa 2006).

Feminist scholar Maria Stem explores the structural inequalities faced by Mayan
women in Guatemala in her work Naming Security - constructing identity (Stem 2005).
While conducting life-history interviews with Mayan women, Stem explores the
relationship between security and identity (ibid). The correlation between security and
identity draws on intersectionality. Feminist scholars study intersections of race, gender,
and class as a means to challenge disciplinary boundaries (D’Costa 2006; Tickner 2006;
Wibben 2011). In this view, there are multiple elements of identity that inform women’s
experiences of security and insecurity. The experience of insecurity is deeply personal
and can mean different things to different people. Through these experiences individuals
come to understand themselves, their needs, and their relationship with others and the

10

state (Jacoby 2006,154-155). Maria Stem’s work in Guatemala has revealed “people
come into conflict with each other over issues relating to identity” (Stem 2005, 190).
Identity should not only be seen as multiple and central to how individuals define
security, it can also include relationships and experiences of power or oppression (Stem
2005, 32). The work of Maria Stem not only informed the theory of this research it also
shaped most of my research methodology.

In the third chapter I will outline my research methodology. This chapter has two
objectives. The first objective o f this chapter is to outline the common considerations of
feminist IR research. While my research is grounded in feminist security theory, my
methodology is closely informed by an IR feminist research ethic that will be described
in this chapter. The second objective is to outline my research methodology. I will begin
by describing the guidelines o f critical discourse analysis. I will then describe how I
intend to use these guidelines in my own research and the challenges I faced while
developing my research plan.

In order to answer my research question, I will conduct critical discourse analysis
of mainstream newspaper articles related to the Highway of Tears. This analysis will be
done through the lens of feminist critical discourse analysis, which is attentive to themes
of gender, power and ideology within discourse (Lazar 2005, 5). My research method and
analysis will be informed by the guidelines for critical discourse analysis set out by
Norman Fairclough (1995b) and John E. Richardson (2007). Critical discourse analysis
seeks “to link linguistic analysis to social analysis” (Woods and Kroger 2000, 206). The
guidelines o f critical discourse analysis include textual analysis and discourse analysis of
both discursive practices and social practices (Fairclough 1995b; Richardson 2007). In

11

order to answer my research question, I will conduct critical discourse analysis of 116
newspaper articles related to the Highway of Tears. I will access these newspaper articles
from a number of different news publishers representing a variety of geographical
locations from across the province of British Columbia. I will use my research sub­
questions to conduct a textual analysis of newspaper articles and to “read security” in the
case of the Highway of Tears (ibid).

In the fourth chapter I outline the scope and context o f my case study: the
Highway o f Tears. The purpose of this chapter is to provide some context to my research
question and to situate my analysis. I begin by discussing the national epidemic of
missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada. I also provide some historical
context in order to explain why First Nations women have been disadvantaged within
Canadian society. I then describe the Highway of Tears and its investigation. I focus
primarily on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s (RCMP) Project E-Pana investigation
that cites eighteen women and girls as “official victims” (Culbert and Hall 2009). I not
only describe the parameters of this investigation, I also list the names of the missing
women and girls included in the literature of the Highway of Tears. The purpose o f this is
to honour the lives and deaths of the women and girls who have disappeared. Finally, I
summarize the role of communities, Non Governmental Organizations and governments
focusing on themes of memorial, activism and policy influence. Each of these actors
plays an important part in the story of the Highway of Tears.

The purpose of the fifth chapter of this thesis is to demonstrate how I came to my
findings. In order to do this I summarize the main findings of my critical discourse
analysis. The central objective of this chapter is to answer my research sub-questions; I

12

do this in four ways. First, I will identify common themes in the language used to
describe security and insecurity in the context of the Highway of Tears. In this section I
also reflect on the factors contributing to insecurity that were identified in the discourse.
Second, I summarize the framing of protection and safety in the discourse o f the
Highway of Tears. Third, I explore who was identified as vulnerable and in need of
protection. And finally, I list and evaluate the narrators of security and how they located
security and insecurity in the case of the Highway o f Tears.
My critical discourse analysis revealed a number of interesting findings about
how the concepts of security and insecurity were represented in the media discourse of
the Highway of Tears. Different words and frames were used to describe security and
insecurity throughout the discourse. My analysis revealed that insecurity was often
framed as being caused by a number o f different factors including race, gender, socio­
economic issues and geographical location. Additionally, it was seen that layers and
relationships o f power influenced who was framed as bringing protection and how safety
and protection was conceptualized. The discourse also revealed competing frames o f the
Highway of Tears. My analysis suggested that only certain women and girls were
considered vulnerable and in need o f protection in the case of the Highway of Tears. And
finally, it was seen that each narrator in the discourse had a different assumption about
what it means to be secure and insecure. These assumptions revealed that there were
shared understandings of security in the case o f the Highway o f Tears.
In the final chapter of this thesis I summarize my key findings and reflect on the
broader contributions of this research. Ultimately, I will ask: so what, who cares, and why
does this research matter? As I answer these questions I will discuss the practical and

13

theoretical value of this research and suggest areas of further exploration. This chapter is
divided into two parts. First, I summarize the key findings of this research. In this
discussion I will link my key findings to my literature review. Second, I discuss the
broader contributions o f this thesis. I will do this in three parts. First, I discuss the
contributions this work has made to the field of International Relations. Second, I reflect
on how this work has contributed to the field o f feminist security studies. And finally, I
explore how this research has contributed to the on-going advocacy and activism for
missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada. I will conclude this chapter by
reflecting on the case o f the Highway of Tears and suggest areas of further exploration.
1.5 - Contributions and Conclusion
Ultimately, this thesis contributes to the literature of security studies and
International Relations and social advocacy around the issue o f murdered and missing
Indigenous women. There are four areas of research and advocacy that this thesis has
contributed to. First, it contributes to a growing body o f literature that studies security in
unconventional sites (D'Costa 2006; Jacoby 2006; Stem 2005; 2006). Second, this work
challenges traditional conceptions of security and seeks to provide a richer understanding
o f what it means to be secure. Third, this thesis seeks to contribute to a broader
methodological discussion related to how we as feminist scholars conduct research in
unconventional sites. And finally, by framing the Highway o f Tears as a site of security I
hope to contribute to the on-going advocacy and activism for missing and murdered
Indigenous women in northern British Columbia and across Canada.

This chapter began by exploring my research journey. In this process I described
how I got to my research questions, objectives and thesis statements. As a researcher, this

14

was an important deliberative moment that helped not only shape the work of this thesis
it also shaped how I identify myself within the literature of International Relations. I then
outlined the objectives o f this thesis, my research question and my thesis statement. In the
next section I summarized each chapter of this thesis and explained how it helped me
answer my research questions. Finally I finished this chapter by outlining the four
contributions of this research to the field o f International Relations. In the chapter that
follows I review the literature and unpack the theory of security in International
Relations.

15

CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

2.1 - Introduction
The definition of what it means to be secure, the causes of insecurity and who or
what the concept of security should apply to, are highly debated in the field of
International Relations (IR) and its sub-field of security studies (Buzan and Hansen 2009;
Cohn 2006; Enloe 1990; Mutimer 2010). As a result “there are several different windows
through which to study security discourses” (Cohn 2006,107). Therefore, it is necessary
to explore and unpack the theory of security, as we understand it in International
Relations and security studies (Stem 2005,16). Without such an exploration it would be
difficult to consider how the discourse of the Highway of Tears can be understood as a
site of security and insecurity.

With this in mind, this chapter has three objectives. The first objective is to
explore how the idea of security has been conceptualized in International Relations. In
this section I will describe traditional approaches to security, critical security studies and
feminist security studies. I use this section to justify my use of feminist security studies as
the theoretical foundation for my thesis. The second objective is to outline the work of
feminist scholar Maria Stem whose work on security in Mayan communities has closely
informed the theory and method of my research. And finally, the third objective of this
chapter is to summarize the common critiques of feminist security studies.

16

2.2 - Unpacking the Theory of Security

Traditional Approaches to Security

The field o f security studies has been dominated by traditional approaches to
security (Collins 2010, Glaser 2010). Traditional approaches to security draw on realist
assumptions of International Relations and serve as a foundation for studying the concept
of security. This approach to security defines the state as the referent object, the use of
force as the central concern and external threats as the most important (Buzan and
Hansen 2009; Walt 1991). From this perspective traditional security scholars seek to
explain why states go to war by prioritizing military strategic issues (Buzan and Hansen
2009; Enloe 1990; Walt 1991).

As noted above, traditional approaches to security studies are based on the
broader concept of realism in International Relations (Walt 1991, 212). Realism is a
theory that addresses how states seek to achieve security (Glaser 2010, 16). The theory of
realism assumes: the international system is anarchic; power is a defining feature of IR;
states are unitary, rational actors; and the international system is characterized by
competition and war (Glaser 2010, 16-17). Drawing on realist assumptions, security is
viewed as competition o f power among states understood in terms o f military strength
(Walt 1991,212).

Traditional approaches to security study the concept of security through positivist,
rationalist epistemologies (Buzan and Hansen 2009; Keohane 1988). Scientific or
positivist approaches emphasize the use of hard science or the scientific method to study
questions in the social sciences (Smith 1996, 17). Therefore, scholars are often concerned

17

with the empirical and measurable aspects o f war. During the World Wars the field of
security studies was most concerned with national security and the military instrument of
statecraft (Baldwin 1995, 121). At the onset o f the Cold War, traditional scholars focused
more on the empirical evolution of the arms race and the superpower relationship
(Baldwin 1995; Buzan and Hansen 2009). By the end of the Cold War traditional
scholars of security studies sought to “rethink the concept of national security” (Allison
and Treverton 1992, 446-7). At this time scholars were focused on the goal o f security
(Baldwin 1995; Waltz 1979), the means to security (Baldwin 1995; Walt 1991) and the
relationship between domestic affairs and national security (Baldwin 1995,131). Today,
the military issues of traditional security studies still remain paramount and national
security remains a priority in International Relations and security studies (Sheehan 2010,
170).

While this approach to security studies provides an explanation for wars and
conflicts throughout history, traditional scholars have a tendency to view the concept of
security narrowly in terms of survival of the state (Stem 2006; Walt 1991). Therefore,
this approach provides an inadequate explanation or solution to some o f the most
pressing violent conflicts within state borders and beyond states (Stem 2005, 190). By
concentrating on the state and military strategic issues, scholars of traditional security fail
to address the needs of individuals within the state, structural violence perpetuated by the
state itself, and the relationship between gender and security (Buzan and Hansen 2009,
209).
Despite a changing world order and an evolving definition of war and conflict,
traditional approaches to security remain as the most dominant approach to security in

18

International Relations (Collins 2010; Glaser 2010). However, new threats to the internal
and external security of the state such as pandemics or environmental degradation have
been identified as legitimate threats to individual and state security. While traditional
schools of thought remain dominant, new approaches to security studies have emerged
that seek to broaden the security agenda.

Critical Security Studies

In response to new threats to security, critical security studies emerged as a means
to understand these threats and new referent objects. Critical approaches to security aim
to broaden the security agenda to include more types of threats and deepen the agenda to
include issues beyond the state (Krause and Williams 1997, xi). This approach to security
places the individual at the centre of the security discourse and explores how the state
perpetuates insecurity by addressing new threats to security such as environmental
security, food security and economic security (Buzan and Hansen 2009, 206-7). The
agenda of critical security studies arose in response to a series of challenges to the
traditional conception of security, mainly that the state was no longer a sufficient referent
object for security (Mutimer 2010, 90). Therefore, thinking more broadly about referent
objects required thinking differently about the sources o f insecurity and security; these
forms o f rethinking required an epistemological shift beyond the empirical, positivist
traditions of security studies (ibid).

Critical scholars challenge conventional security studies by applying post­
positivist perspectives such as critical theory and post-structuralism, most o f which deals
with the social construction of security (Buzan, Waever and de Wilde 1998; Buzan and

19

Hansen 2009; Mutimer 2010). For example, securitization theory introduced by critical
scholars Barry Buzan, Ole Waever and Jaap de Wilde explores the process by which an
issue becomes an existential threat to a referent object (Buzan, Waever and de Wilde
1998, 7). In this way, security is seen as a speech act (Waever 1995, 35). Securitization
theory represents one school o f thought to emerge from the umbrella of critical security
studies. The work of Buzan, Waever and de Wilde, often referred to as the Copenhagen
School, is one o f many schools of thought that have contributed to how we can study
security through a critical post-positivist lens (Buzan and Hansen 2009; Mutimer 2010).

Although critical security studies have broadened the security agenda to include
new referent objects such as the individual, this approach is often critiqued for failing to
address the complex needs of women in the study o f security (Hansen 2000; Tickner
1992; Stem 2005). Lene Hansen, a scholar of the Copenhagen School, has critiqued
critical security studies, namely securitization theory, for being restrictive to gender and
ultimately ignoring issues o f power, race and class (2000, 287-288). While critical
security studies have broadened the security agenda to include new understandings of
security and insecurity, feminist approaches to security are needed in order to explain the
role that gender plays in the discourse and practice of security.

Feminist Approaches to Security

Feminist scholars o f security aim to open the security agenda to address the varied
contexts of women and gender in the study of security (Tickner 1992, 66). Drawing on
critical feminist approaches to International Relations, feminist security studies "takes
place wherever women find themselves confronting militarization, war and violence"

20

(Enloe 1990, 201). By searching for women in the discourse and practice of security
feminist scholars address three central themes through their work. First, feminist security
scholars search for women in the discourse and practice o f security. Second, feminist
security scholars seek to challenge traditional state centric conceptions of security. And
third, feminist scholars study security in sites that are unconventional to traditional
International Relations. These themes are outlined in more detail below.

By searching for women in the discourse and practice o f security, a majority of
feminist work on security searches for the presence o f women in war, peace,
militarization, and structural violence (Enloe 1990; Tickner 1992; 2006; Wibben 2011).
Feminist scholars ask important questions that seek to uncover the gendered nature of
security studies. These questions include: where are the women in security? (Enloe 1990;
Moon 1997); what is the impact o f war and militarization on women? (D ’Costa 2006;
Hansen 2001); is there a gendered nature to security? (Elshtain 1982; Enloe 1990; 2004);
and what is the relationship between gender and violence? (Sjoberg and Gentry 2007;
Sylvester 1987). Feminist security studies reveal that women's involvement in matters o f
national and international security is much broader than assumed (Wibben 2011,21).

Feminist scholars challenge traditional state-centric definitions of violence, war
and security. They argue that while traditional security represents the state, people who
do not fit into the dominant discourse of the state are often not addressed in the practice
o f security (Stem 2005; Tickner 1992). Therefore, feminist security scholars seek to
challenge state centered conceptions of security by revealing alternative sites and
explanations o f what it means to be secure and insecure (Tickner 2006, 21). For feminist

21

scholars, the study of security is about making what is often invisible more visible to the
centre of the IR discipline. Therefore, the study of security should incorporate multiple
meanings in order to understand how the concepts of security and insecurity affect the
everyday lived experiences of people who face the real issues o f International Relations
(Sylvester 1996; Wibben 2011).

Many feminist scholars study security in spaces rarely considered by traditional
IR scholars (D'Costa 2006; Enloe 2004; Jacoby 2006; Stem 2005; Zalewski 2006). For
example, Cynthia Enloe often finds women’s stories in sites like Nike Indonesian sneaker
factories (Enloe 2004, 15). By studying security in unconventional sites feminist scholars
seek to redefine the meaning of security and insecurity (D’Costa 2006; Jacoby 2006;
Stem 2006) to include the effects o f structural inequalities such as race, class and gender
(Tickner 2006; D ’Costa 2006). By searching for security in the everyday and asking
feminist questions, feminist security scholars search for women affected by violence and
security policies in unexpected locations (Enloe 1990; 2004; Jacoby and Sasley 2002).
Traditionally, these sites and experiences of security are often rendered invisible by
dominant security policies and academic practices (Enloe 1990; 2004). However, by
opening the security agenda feminist security scholars seek to identify and explain threats
to the security of women around the world (Tickner 2006, 20). Sites like these are often
overlooked by mainstream IR as being irrelevant to the discipline (D'Costa 2006, 132).
However, these sites often uncover alternative narratives of security that reveal important
insights into international politics and security studies (Enloe 1990; 2004, Stem 2005;
2006; Wibben 2011).

22

Feminist approaches to the study of security provide a much different view of
what security might look like when compared to traditional or critical approaches to
security. By opening the security agenda, feminist approaches to security seek to
challenge the way traditional IR has conceptualized security and to make room for
feminist narratives and concerns (Stem 2005; Wibben 2011). By insisting that the
concept o f security only refers to the state and its power, traditional approaches to
security fundamentally ignore the varied contexts of people’s lives and how they
experience security in the everyday (Enloe 2004; Stem 2006; Tickner 2006; Wibben
2011). To imagine alternative conceptions of security, it is necessary to produce a space
where different articulations of security can exist alongside each other (Wibben 2011,
39). As will be seen in the next section, identity plays an important role in how we come
to understand and explain the concepts of security and insecurity and this in turn
challenges traditional assumptions o f what it means to be secure.

2.3 - Maria Stern: Security and Identity

In her 2005 book, Naming Security - constructing identity, feminist scholar Maria
Stem outlined her work with Mayan women in Guatemala. Her research addressed how
insecurity is represented in the discourse of eighteen politically active Mayan women in
Guatemala (2005, 44). Through her work, Stem not only addresses the relationship
between identity and security, she also uses a unique methodological framework to study
security. In this section I will summarize Stem’s research in Guatemala and the
contributions her work has made to feminist security studies.

23

Stem’s work is based on partial life-history interviews with Mayan women who
were also members of nationally and internationally based political organizations in
Guatemala (2005, 55). During her interviews she asked the narrators to tell her about
their “struggles as Mayan women” and to tell their partial life story around this theme
(ibid). Stem proceeded to read these life-history interviews as representations of security
discourse (ibid). She then used the narratives that she had constmcted from the interviews
to create a text of security (ibid).

In order to read these narratives as texts of security, Stem established a working
definition o f both security and insecurity. She used dominant and alternative approaches
to security to identify an open-ended definition o f security and in-security. Based on this,
she defined security as “its safety, its well-being, as well as its limitations, its stability in
order to assure its safety” while insecurity “has to do with danger, threat, harm and the
peril involved with change and openness” (2005, 65). To guide her analysis, Stem asked
a series o f important questions:

1. In what ways are definitions of in/security tied to identities in the text?
Who/what connotes safety/danger and who/what needs safeguarding? How
are self/others articulated, and differences addressed?
2. How/where do narrators name/locate their in/security? How do processes of
interpellation and articulation o f their identities converge with the naming of
insecurity through discourses o f danger/safety? (2005, 65).

Stem used these questions to guide her reading of the security discourse in the narrative
she created from the life-history interviews she conducted with Mayan women.
Through her research, Stem found that there was a close relationship between the
concepts o f security and identity. In particular, she recognized that a number of factors
contribute to in/security in the case o f Mayan women. She summarized these factors in

24

the second half o f her book as: the family/community (silencing, sexual violence and
sexism); Ladino/Mayan relations (the exclusion of Indigenous peoples);
organizations/movements; political economy (poverty, land ownership); and the nation­
state (Mayan women as citizens) (Stem 2005, 73-190). In conclusion, Stem suggests that
there is evidence that markers of identity cause conflict and insecurity. By including
identity in our understanding o f security we can begin to rethink the concept and practice
of security (Stem 2005, 190).

Through her exploration of the structural inequalities faced by Mayan women in
Guatemala, Stem provides important insights into the relationship between security and
identity. Identity shapes meanings o f security because as individuals “who we say we are
matters in how we conceive of, strive for and practice security” (Stem 2005, 7). In her
work Stem argues that “norms of identity are created through the decision of who/what is
excluded” (ibid). As individuals we define security based on our experiences and
identities (Stem 2005; 2006; Jacoby 2006), if our definition o f security does not fit into
the dominant security policy of the state we run the risk of being marginalized by the
state (Stem 2005; Tickner 1992; 2006).

The relationship between security and identity draws on intersectionality.
Feminist scholars study intersections of race, gender, and class as a means to challenge
disciplinary boundaries (D’Costa 2006; Tickner 2006; Wibben 2011). In this view there
are multiple markers of identity that inform women’s experiences o f security and
insecurity. The experience of being insecure is deeply personal and can mean different
things to different people, through these experiences individuals come to understand

25

themselves, their needs, and their relationship with others and the state (Jacoby 2006,
154-155).

Stem argues that the relationship between security and identity goes beyond just
markers o f identity to include relationships and experiences of power, she states that,
“each identity position, such as that of ‘woman’, is produced out o f a confluence or
intersection of inter-relating power relations” (2005, 32). Therefore, identity must be seen
as multiple and central in how individuals define security (ibid). As Maria Stem argues,

It is becoming increasingly obvious that people come into conflict with each other
over issues related to identity.. .Attempts to broaden the concept o f security to
reflect this conceptual dearth have set the stage for the unpacking and re-thinking
o f security, this opening makes it possible to take into account the role identity
plays in understanding struggle and conflict (Stem 2005, 190).

The relationship between security and identity not only reveals that individuals will
define security and insecurity based on their experiences, relationships and background.
It also reveals that shared experiences o f insecurity are nearly impossible. Each person
will have his or her own idea of what it means to be secure. Consequently, the concept of
security is fluid, malleable and cannot be universal. The assumption that groups o f people
will experience security in the same way becomes problematic when one individual's
experience of security is given more credibility and in turn more power over another
person’s experience. Therefore, it is important to ask who or what is being excluded in
narratives o f security (Stem 2005, 32). This insight into security has become an important
consideration when studying security in unconventional sites where multiple voices and
layers o f power exist.

26

In her work, Maria Stem seeks to provide scholars of International Relations with
a means to rethink the relationship of security and identity in order to better understand
conflict and violence. While Stem acknowledges that she may not have necessarily used
a “feminist method” (Stem 2006, 196) her research asks feminist questions. She sought to
“make visible” how she conducted her research so that her work might be useful for other
scholars attempting to address feminist questions in their research (Stem 2006, 196).
Stem also grounds her work in alternative conceptions of security including critical and
feminist approaches (Stem 2005; 2006).

2.4 - Critiques of Feminist Security Studies

Feminist security scholars often conduct research in marginalized spaces and
aiming to understand security from the perspective of women who are part of
marginalized groups. This can be problematic for IR feminist scholars as post-colonial
feminist scholars and Indigenous scholars often critique it. In the section below I will
summarize the common critiques to Western feminist research. I will also reflect on how
I intend to address these critiques in my own research.

Post-Colonial Feminist Critiques

Post-colonial feminists have often critiqued Western feminism for not being
attentive to women of colour thus presenting a Western or Eurocentric bias (Mohanty
1984, 333). This critique of the Western project of feminism fundamentally challenges
feminist approaches to IR and security, which claims to empower women who are
marginalized and oppressed. The language of “uncovering knowledge from women's
everyday lives” (Tickner 2005, 9), “studying those who are 'most' marginalized” (Stem

27

2006,178) and “taking on the political struggle” of women (Tickner 2006, 9-10) that has
been used by IR feminist scholars is highly problematic when viewed through the lens of
post-colonial feminism.

Beyond the inherent bias in feminist approaches, post-colonial scholars challenge
the goals and expected outcomes of Western feminist approaches (Wibben 2011, 12-13).
Post-colonial scholars concern themselves with evaluating multiple layers o f oppression
and in particular how colonial and imperial policies and histories have impacted how
different cultures view themselves (Mohanty 1995; Said 1993). Chandra Talpade
Mohanty, one of the main proponents of feminist post-colonial theory, argues that the
political project of Western feminism has constructed the “third world woman” as a
homogenous entity (Mohanty 1984, 333-335). She argues that Western feminisms have
tended to ignore differences among third world women and fail to recognize that the
experiences of oppression is incredibly diverse, varying based on geography, history and
culture (ibid). Post-colonial scholars address central questions about power and discourse
in their work (Mohanty 1995; Wibben 2011) and how colonialism has influenced the
construction o f the West versus the rest (Mohanty 1984; Narayan 1997). In particular,
feminist post-colonial scholars have helped bring power relations embedded in the
representations of third world women and the other to the forefront o f academic research
(Mohanty 1984; Pettman 1996).

In International Relations research even the most well intended representations of
third world women often perpetuate power relations of colonialism reinforcing violence
and exploitation (Stem 2005, 67). In their attempt to give voice to the oppressed of the

28

world, Western scholars continually establish the South as being inferior to the North
(ibid). As feminists, it is necessary to take into account the multiple visions of differently
situated women and how location and experience may vary between women; otherwise
feminism runs the risk of becoming a part of the problem instead of the solution
(Mohanty 1995; Stem 2005; Wibben 2011).

Indigenous Critiques of Western Scholarship

Indigenous scholars and their allies would also argue that feminist approaches are
embedded with colonial practices (Green 2007; Tuhiwai Smith 1999). Indigenous
scholarship “embraces the commitment by Indigenous scholars to decolonize Western
methodologies, to criticize and demystify the ways in which Western science and the
modem academy have been part of the colonial apparatus” (Denzin and Lincoln 2008, 2).
Indigenous scholars would also critique the work of feminist IR scholars for not being
attentive to the history and culture of Indigenous peoples, particularly Indigenous
women. As a result feminist scholars must be mindfiil of their power and privilege when
researching in Indigenous spaces.

Feminist theorizing and methodologies seek to be emancipatory by practicing
reflexivity and recognizing the power and position o f the researcher while conducting
research within the field of International Relations. However, without considering post­
colonial and Indigenous concerns and critiques, feminist scholars are further perpetuating
oppression o f the other. As feminist scholars, it is important to take into account post­
colonial and Indigenous considerations. However, it is very difficult to conduct research
that is ethical and represents marginalized women properly. In order to confront issues of

29

power, feminist scholars must not only be reflective and attentive to power they must ask
important questions about how identity, culture and history are represented through their
writing (Yuval-Davis 1994, 414). It is also important to engage and work with
Indigenous peoples.

In order to address the critiques o f feminist approaches from both post-colonial
and Indigenous scholars, I have done two things. First, I engaged in reflective practices
throughout my entire research process. This is a common element o f a feminist research
ethic that helps researchers reflect on their own power and privilege. The second thing I
have done to address the critiques to Western scholarship is identify myself as an
“advocacy researcher” (Cherland and Harper 2007; Mckenzie 2010). I situated myself as
a feminist IR researcher as well as an advocacy researcher because I recognize that I am
not Aboriginal and I am studying an issue that is primarily, although not always, an
Aboriginal women’s issue. Therefore, I must be attentive to the critiques from post­
colonial and Indigenous scholars.

2.5- Conclusion

As I noted in my first chapter, through my research journey I have come to the
realization that I am not equipped to conduct research that is authentically “Indigenous”
or “post-colonial” because I do not have the experiences or the relationships to conduct
this type o f research in a manner that is culturally safe. However, I cannot ignore the
critiques from post-colonial and Indigenous scholars. Recognizing that I will not be using
Indigenous ways o f knowing, I consider feminist security studies to be a valuable
approach to study gendered elements of security and to challenge dominant approaches to

30

security in International Relations. Feminist approaches address the complexity o f
women's everyday lives and seek to bring women's experiences to the forefront of
International Relations by challenging mainstream conceptions of what it means to be
secure. I chose this theoretical foundation for my research because it provided a solid
avenue through which to answer my research question.

Throughout this chapter I have unpacked the theory of security in International
Relations. I outlined traditional approaches to security, critical security studies and
feminist security studies. I then summarized the work of feminist scholar, Maria Stem,
and her contributions to feminist security studies. Finally, I described the common
critiques to feminist approaches to security from the perspective of post-colonial feminist
scholars and Indigenous scholars. I then outlined how I intend to address these critiques
in my own research. These elements provide the theoretical foundation o f this work. I
will now turn to my research methodology.

31

CHAPTER 3 - METHODOLOGY

3.1- Introduction

Drawing on feminist approaches to International Relations and security studies
this research apply feminist approaches to security to the case o f the Highway of Tears.
In order to do this I conduct critical discourse analysis of newspaper articles related to the
Highway o f Tears. I read through a number of newspaper articles as texts of security in
order to determine how the concepts o f security and insecurity are represented in select
media discourse of the Highway of Tears. Throughout this chapter I explain in more
detail how I intend to do this.

This chapter has two objectives. The first objective of this chapter is to outline the
common considerations of feminist IR research. While my research is grounded in
feminist security theory, my methodology is closely informed by an IR feminist research
ethic, which will be described in this section. The second objective is to outline my
research methodology. I begin by describing the guidelines of critical discourse analysis.
I then describe how I used these guidelines in my own research and the challenges I faced
while developing my research plan.

3.2 - Feminist International Relations: Approaches to Research

There is no one feminist way of conducting research in International Relations or
security studies (Ackerly and True 2010; Tickner 2006). Whether one is conducting
empirical research or ethnographic research, feminist research does not provide a
framework for analysis (Ackerly and True 2010; Tickner 2005). There are, however, a

32

number of considerations feminist scholars take into account when conducting research
(Ackerly and True 2010; Tickner 2005; 2006).

In this section I will outline three common considerations of feminist research and
methodology that I have adapted from J. Ann Tickner's elements of feminist
methodologies (2005, 5-10; 2006, 21-30). I have broken down these elements into three
categories and they include: (1) asking feminist questions; (2) the 'everyday' as a site of
International Relations; and (3) power and authority in feminist research.

Asking Feminist Questions

A common starting point for feminist scholars of International Relations is to ask
questions that uncover women's presence in international politics (Enloe 2004; Tickner
2006). Asking these question invokes “a feminist curiosity” (Enloe 2004, 3) to explore
how women influence international politics and how IR has been gendered (Shepherd
2009; Sylvester 1996). By remaining curious, feminists refuse to accept tradition or
nature as an explanation for why the international system functions as it does. Instead
they ask important feminist questions (Enloe 1990; 2004).

Whether they are exploring the male dominated international system or women,
war and peace, feminist scholars ask “why in just about all societies women are
disadvantaged politically, socially, and economically relative to men and to what extent
this is due to international politics” (Tickner 2006, 24). Other questions that feminist
scholars ask include: where are the women? (Enloe 2004, 7); what are women doing?
(Zalewski 2006, 61); what work is being done about sex, femininity and masculinity?
(ibid); and how has gender infused our way o f thinking? (Shepherd 2009; Sylvester

33

1996). The transformative potential of these simple questions are often underestimated
(Zalewski 2006, 61). The work of prominent feminist scholar, Cynthia Enloe, reveals that
by asking a question like “where are the women?” scholars will find women in places
that are not typically explored in traditional approaches to International Relations (Enloe
2004; Wibben 2011). As seen in the previous chapter, feminist security scholars use
feminist questioning to ask important questions that uncover women’s presence in war,
militarization and sites of structural violence. This questioning often leads feminist
scholars to study the everyday as a site o f International Relations.

The ‘Everyday’ as a Site of International Relations

Feminist IR scholars also emphasize the importance of the everyday as a site in
International Relations (D'Costa 2006; Enloe 2004; Shepherd 2009; Stem 2005; Sylvester
1996; Tickner 2006; Zalewski 1996). This draws on the assumption that the lives of
women and their experiences are important (Reinharz 1992, 241). Therefore, feminist
scholars draw on women’s everyday lived experiences as a way o f understanding the
process of international politics (Enloe 1990; 2004). The concept of everyday theorizing
is about exploring sites and spaces not traditionally studied in IR, sites where ordinary
people are influencing International Relations in their everyday lives (Sylvester 1996,
262).

Everyday forms of feminist theorizing begin with uncovering everyday people in
International Relations (Sylvester 1996, 262). Cynthia Enloe, one of the first proponents
of the everyday as a site of IR (Wibben 2011, 17), suggests that “every time a woman
explains how her government is trying to control her fears, her hopes and her labour a

34

theory is being made” (Enloe 1990, 201). Much of Enloe’s work searches for women in
the most unexpected places. Whether she is questioning the exploitation of women in the
tourism industry by looking at postcards from Portugal or assessing sexuality and foreign
policy through the role o f women on military bases Enloe’s work reminds us that “the
personal is international” (Enloe 1990, 196). This statement suggests that, “ideas about
what it means to be a ‘respectable’ woman or a ‘honorable’ man have been shaped by
colonizing policies, trading strategies and military doctrines” (ibid). Similarly, feminist
scholar Marysia Zalewski suggests that theory and everyday practice often merge
together (Zalewski 1996, 346). Zalewski implies that “theorizing is a way of life, a form
o f life, something we all do, every day, all the time” (1996: 346). Therefore, the
processes o f international politics impact every individual no matter what race, gender, or
class they may be. And every individual in turn influences International Relations
(Zalewski 1996: 346).

Power and Authority in Feminist Research

Using the everyday as a site of International Relations often requires that most
researchers conduct research in unconventional sites interacting with people who are
marginalized within a society. Working with people, experiences and stories that are not
our own is extremely challenging and requires constant self-reflection and attentiveness
to power. As researchers, we must situate ourselves and recognize that our practices and
interpretations are informed by our positionality, that the subject and object are not
distinct, and that power and privilege must be interrogated (Ackerly, Stem and True
2006; Ackerly and True 2010). To expose bias or power in their research, feminist
scholars practice self-reflexivity and are reflective throughout their entire research

35

process and often incorporate these reflections in their own writing (Tickner 200, 27-28).
This process involves multiple deliberative moments o f reflection (Ackerly and True
2010,42). In these deliberative moments scholars ask important questions that break
down the research process and assess their location and their power in relation to their
research subjects (Ackerly and True 2010; Tickner 2006). This process of self-reflection
is important because methodological or other adjustments can be made throughout the
research process (Ackerly and True 2010, 42).

As has been seen through the reflections of scholars like Stem, Enloe and
Tickner, when asking feminist questions scholars often reflect on what potential impact
their research might have on the women’s lives that they are writing about (Tickner 2006,
25). When conducting fieldwork, feminist scholars regularly become invested in their
research to the point that they are living and working with the women they are studying.
As a result, feminist scholars often take on the political struggle of the people they are
working with (Tickner 2006, 29). While these experiences are seen as highly problematic
in mainstream IR, for feminists these experiences are necessary in order to produce
knowledge that is transformative and emancipatory.

There is no such thing as a feminist framework o f analysis but there are important
considerations that feminist scholars use when conducting research. As noted above,
feminist scholars may choose to conduct empirical analysis, ethnographic research,
participatory observation or any other method of research but what makes their research
strictly “feminist” is based on the questions they ask, the places they explore and their
attentiveness to their own power as a researcher.

36

3.3 - Research Methodology

Using feminist approaches to security as a theoretical foundation, my research is
concerned with how security has been represented in the media discourse of the Highway
o f Tears. While a majority o f research that adopts this theoretical foundation uses the
methods of ethnography and fieldwork, this approach was not feasible for my research. I
had initially wanted to conduct interviews with family members and key actors in the
story of the Highway of Tears. However, the ethical protocols and implications o f this
type of research for First Nations communities and families of the missing and murdered
women meant that this type o f research required proper relationships with community
members, families and advocates in order to be done in a way that is culturally safe.
Because I did not feel that I had strong enough relationships with the communities at the
onset of this research, I chose not to conduct interviews. I struggled for a long time about
how I could incorporate the story o f The Highway of Tears into a research methodology
that is overtly Western in both theory and practice. As noted in my first chapter, it was
conversations with Indigenous scholars that led me to Indigenous methodologies.
However, these conversations are also the reason why I chose not to engage in
Indigenous methodologies. Keeping in mind the critiques from post-colonial and
Indigenous scholars, I seek to answer my research questions by applying critical
discourse analysis to a research question informed by feminist research ethic. This means
that I will engage in moments of deliberative reflection and recognize both my
positionality and power as a Western researcher throughout the process of my research.
In this section I will outline my research methodology. I begin by defining feminist
critical discourse analysis and the guidelines for critical discourse analysis. In the last part

37

of this section I will describe my own research method as informed by the guidelines of
critical discourse analysis.

Critical Discourse Analysis Described

Feminist critical discourse analysis is “a political perspective” concerned with
unpacking “interrelationships of gender, power and ideology in discourse” (Lazar 2005,
5). In my research I examined newspaper articles through the lens of feminist critical
discourse analysis. I remained attentive to gender, power and ideology in the media
discourse of the Highway o f Tears. My research method and analysis is informed by
critical discourse analysis, namely the guidelines set out by Norman Fairclough in
Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study o f Language (1995b) and John E.
Richardson in Analyzing Newspapers: An Approach from Critical Discourse Analysis
(2007). The overall aim o f critical discourse analysis is “to link linguistic analysis to
social analysis” (Woods and Kroger 2000, 206). This method works under the
assumption that “if language use contributes to the (re)production of social life - then,
logically, discourse must play a part in producing and re-producing social inequalities”
(Richardson 2007, 26). Therefore, critical discourse analysis involves “different levels of
abstraction” including the “immediate situational context, the wider context of
institutional practices and the wider frame of the society or culture” (Fairclough 1995b,
62).

Norman Fairclough’s approach to critical discourse analysis is considered to be
one o f the most accessible approaches to analyzing newspaper articles (Richardson 2007,
37). Fairclough’s method can be broken down into three considerations or guidelines.

38

These guidelines include: (1) textual analysis; (2) discursive practices; and (3) social
practices (Richardson 2007, 38-44). Textual analysis involves the analysis of the way in
which language is used or structured. It goes further than content analysis to “examine
the text in terms of what is present and what could have been but is not present”
(Richardson 2007, 38).

The discursive practice dimension o f critical discourse analysis involves different
facets and methods of text production and text consumption (Fairclough 1995b, 58). It is
at this stage that analysis becomes discourse analysis rather than textual analysis
(Richardson 2007, 39). In the case of news media, critical discourse analysis is concerned
with what beliefs, messages and ideologies news producers (ie. journalists) are encoding
in their text in order to shape the beliefs and understandings of readers (Richardson 2007,
41).

Following from the acknowledgement o f discursive practices mentioned above,
Fairclough suggests that a well-rounded critical discourse analysis should involve
analysis o f the text’s “socio-cultural practice” or “the social and cultural goings-on which
the communicative event is part o f ’ (Fairclough 1995a, 57). Ultimately, this last stage of
critical discourse analysis seeks to understand the social context of the text and how this
may impact our understanding of what is present in this text or what is missing.

In summary, critical discourse analysis relies on textual analysis and discourse
analysis in relation to the broader society (Richardson 2007, 42). This entire process is
subject to critical analysis that can be described as, “subjecting discourse to ethical and
political critique, challenging the features that contribute to the perpetuation of structural

39

inequalities” (ibid). When applied to the analysis of newspaper articles, critical discourse
analysis assumes that “newspapers are the product o f specific people working in specific
social circumstances and that in turn the news can have social effects” (Richardson 2007,
37).

Holly A. Mckenzie used feminist critical discourse analysis and critical discourse
analysis when conducting a case study examining mainstream media representations of
Daleen Bosse (Muskego) (2010, 142). Daleen is a First Nations woman who went
missing in Saskatchewan in 2004 (Mckenzie 2010, 143). In her research Mckenzie
applied the guidelines of critical discourse analysis as laid out in the work of Norman
Fairclough and John E. Richardson (Mckenzie 2010, 147). Mckenzie’s analysis revealed
a number of gaps and silences in the mainstream news coverage of Daleen’s story (2010,
148-150). Mckenzie was particularly attentive to the language used by mainstream
newspapers, the overlapping relationships of power that existed in these texts (ie. the role
of the RCMP), the use of pictures in media and the social, cultural and historical context
of the text (Mckenzie 2010, 149-154). Her analysis revealed that journalistic
representations could effectively disrupt or reproduce colonial, racist and sexist practices
towards Indigenous women (2010, 155). Similar to the work o f Holly A. Mckenzie, I will
use feminist critical discourse analysis and the guidelines for critical discourse analysis of
newspapers to examine media representations o f the Highway of Tears in the context of
security and insecurity. This will be described in more detail in the next section.

40

A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Highway of Tears

In order to understand how the concepts o f security and insecurity are represented
in the discourse o f select media pertaining to the Highway of Tears, I conducted a critical
discourse analysis o f mainstream newspaper articles related to the Highway of Tears. To
guide this analysis I developed three sub-questions. These questions were loosely adapted
from research done by Maria Stem (Stem 2005). As noted in Chapter 2, Stem used these
sub-questions in her analysis as a way to read texts of security (Stem 2005, 85).
Similarly, I have written three sub-questions to “read security” in the text related to the
Highway of Tears (ibid). As previously stated, these questions are:

1.
2.
3.

What words are used to identify security and insecurity in the story of the
Highway of Tears?
Who/what brings safety/protection and who/what needs protection? What does
protection look like?
How/where do the narrators (family, community, government, RCMP)
name/locate evidence or experiences of in/security? (Adapted from Stem 2005)

I created a template (see Appendix A) to record my findings from each newspaper article.
The template is divided into five sections. The first section (labeled as “Section 1:
General Information”) was used to record general information o f each newspaper article
examined, including the publisher, date, location, title and a brief outline of the article.
This information was used to keep track o f each article studied. The second section
(labeled as “Section 2: Keywords and Identifiers of Security”) was guided by my first
research sub-question. In this section I examined key words and identifiers of security
and insecurity in each article. The third section (labeled as “Section 3: Safety and
Protection”) was broken down into three questions. These questions are: (a) who or what
is identified as bringing safety/protection? (b) Who or what is identified as vulnerable

41

and needs safety/protection? And (c) What words are used to describe protection? In this
section I paid particular attention to the language used to describe protection and the
framing of those who are vulnerable and in need of protection. Drawing on my third
research sub-question, in the fourth section (labeled as “Section 4: Narrators o f Security”)
I identified different narrators of security (who was speaking) and how these narrators
located security or insecurity. More specifically, I looked at what words the narrators
used to describe security and insecurity. The final section (labeled as “Section 5: Latent
Content”) o f the template was left blank for any additional or latent content related to my
research questions. As I conducted my analysis I was attentive to any latent content of the
newspaper articles in order to understand the broader discursive and social practices that
were represented in these articles.

I used a sample of 116 newspaper articles for my analysis. These articles were
accessed from a number of different mainstream newspaper publishers representing a
variety of geographical locations from across British Columbia. The newspapers that
were accessed include: the Prince George Citizen, the Smithers Interior News, the
Terrace Standard, the Prince Rupert Northern View, and the Kamloops Daily News. The
databases used to access these newspapers included the Canadian Periodicals Index
Quarterly, LexisNexis Academic, and Canadian News Stand Pacific. The newspapers
were chosen because they represented the geographical parameters of the Highway of
Tears as outlined by the RCMP. I had initially wanted to include the Vancouver Sun in
my analysis because I anticipated that there would be gaps in the newspaper databases
that I had chosen. However, when I conducted my initial search of the databases it was
clear that there were not as many gaps in the news coverage as I had predicted. As a

42

result, I chose to focus on newspapers that were local to the case of the Highway of
Tears.

The case of the Highway of Tears dates back to 1969. However, finding access to
complete archives of newspaper articles dating back this far was extremely difficult
because of incomplete databases and archives. Therefore, in order to narrow the focus of
this research I chose to explore articles from December 2004 to February 2014 in my
analysis. I chose this time period because it represents the beginning o f the RCMP's
official investigation into the Highway of Tears in 2004 and extends to present day. I will
discuss the significance of this time period in more detail in the chapter that follows. It is
worth noting that not all databases provided archives dating back to 2004, however the
time period was well covered because I used a variety of different news providers in my
analysis.

As noted above, the sample size used in my analysis is 116 newspaper articles. I
came to this specific number through a series of steps and deliberative reflections. I
started by searching each newspaper database using the search term “The Highway of
Tears”. My initial search revealed 502 articles that contained the search term and fit
within my specified time period. After doing an initial read through of these articles, I
was able to pare down the number of articles from 502 to 116. Articles were removed
from my sample for four reasons. First, I found that many of the newspapers shared
sources and information. Therefore, a number o f the articles provided duplicate and
sometimes identical information. As a result, a number o f articles were removed because
of repetition. Second, I chose to remove any articles that were classified as “opinion” or

43

“editorial” and instead chose to focus specifically on “news” articles because the scope of
this research is on the news and media discourse. Third, many of the articles focused on
Vancouver’s downtown east side in association with the high profile case o f serial killer,
Robert Pickton. While these articles mentioned the Highway of Tears, they did not
provide any information about the case itself and were therefore removed. And finally, as
I outlined in Chapter 4, this research operates within the scope o f the case study of the
Highway of Tears. As a result, some articles were removed if they were not pertinent to
the parameters o f my case study. Each o f these considerations reduced my sample size to
116 articles. Reducing these articles was very difficult because as a feminist researcher it
felt as though I was being exclusive and feminist research is so much about being
inclusive. The intention behind selecting my sample size in the way I did was not to be
exclusive; instead it was about narrowing the scope and nature of this research in order to
fully answer my research question. It is also worth nothing that in order to address this
challenge I kept detailed reflective notes throughout my analysis that justified my
choices, as I have set out in the previous section o f this chapter.

In summary, this research uses feminist critical discourse analysis and critical
discourse analysis to study newspaper articles related to the Highway o f Tears. Guided by
a template, this research explores how the concepts of security, insecurity, protection,
safety and vulnerability have been represented in the media discourse o f the Highway of
Tears. Furthermore, this work analyzes how different narrator’s frame security and
insecurity based on their identity. This analysis will also be attentive to broader themes of
gender, power and ideology in the discourse (Lazar 2005, 5). And finally, I am mindful

44

of the broader discursive and social practices evident within the text. By doing this, I
conducted a well-rounded critical discourse analysis of the Highway of Tears.

3.4 - Conclusion

This chapter began by outlining feminist approaches to research and summarizing
important considerations feminist scholars should make when conducting research in
International Relations. These considerations have been central to this thesis. I also
outlined my research methodology. I conducted critical discourse analysis of 116
newspaper articles related to the Highway o f Tears. The analysis of these newspaper
articles frames the Highway of Tears as a site o f security and evaluates how the concepts
of security and insecurity have been represented in its discourse. My analysis was guided
by three research sub-questions. The central goal of this analysis was to understand what
words are used to describe security and insecurity, what words are used to describe safety
and protection and who provides that protection. I also examined the key narrators in the
discourse of the Highway of Tears and how they located and understood security and
insecurity. Throughout this analysis I was attentive to discursive practices that are present
in the news media and the broader social and cultural context of the articles studied. In
this chapter I also reflected on some o f the challenges I faced when designing my
research method. Before I summarize the findings of my critical discourse analysis, it is
important to situate my case study in my analysis by providing the national and local
context of the Highway of Tears. This will be described in more detail in the chapter that
follows.

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CHAPTER 4 - CASE STUDY: THE HIGHWAY OF TEARS

4.1 - Introduction
For many people living in British Columbia’s central interior and northern coast,
the term Highway of Tears is a painful reminder of the legacy o f gendered violence that
has impacted families and communities in the north for generations. The natural beauty
o f snow covered mountains, lush old growth forests and raging rivers that can be
witnessed by driving throughout northern B.C. is a haunting distraction from reality. It is
along these stretches of tarmac where an estimated 18-35 women and girls have gone
missing or have been found murdered since the 1960s (Culbert and Hall 2009). The way
in which the Highway of Tears is often described has been contested. The definition of
the highway itself, the number of missing women, and who counts in the official
investigation varies depending on the literature. While this contestation will be discussed
in more depth throughout this thesis, in this chapter I will describe the scope and context
of my case study: the Highway of Tears.

The purpose of this chapter is to define the scope of my case study, The Highway
o f Tears. This chapter also seeks to provide the broader social and cultural context that
my analysis will be situated in. The objectives of this chapter are three fold. First, I will
describe the national issue o f missing and murdered women in Canada. The purpose of
this is to provide some context for the local case of the Highway of Tears. Second, I will
summarize the case of the Highway of Tears and its investigation. Third, I will describe
the role of the communities, the government, and non-governmental organizations in the
case o f the Highway of Tears.

46

4.2 - Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women: A National Epidemic
Before I describe the local case of the Highway o f Tears it is important to
recognize that the Highway of Tears is located within a national epidemic of gendered
colonial violence which has targeted Indigenous women and girls in Canada for
generations. In this section I will briefly touch on the historical context of violence
against Indigenous women in Canada. I will also describe the current issue of missing
and murdered Indigenous women and girls. I will conclude by describing the federal
government’s role in the issue as related to calls for a national public inquiry into the
subject.

Indigenous women in Canada face the highest rates o f violence in the country
(Amnesty International 2009, 1). Data suggests that Aboriginal women are five times
more likely more likely to die as a result of violence than other women in Canada (ibid).
These statistics are embedded in a history filled with colonialism, racism and sexism that
has placed Indigenous women at the bottom rung of Canadian society (Peach and Ladner
2010, 88). These historical factors have contributed to deep inequalities faced by
Indigenous women. Widespread and entrenched poverty, racism and marginalization are
critical factors that contribute to greater risks of violence targeted against Indigenous
women (Amnesty International 2009, 2). Inequalities in living conditions and access to
government services have increased the mobility o f Indigenous women in Canada and
have in turn placed Indigenous women in vulnerable positions (Amnesty International
2009; Peach and Ladner 2010). As a result, Aboriginal women are often denied the very
services they need to escape violence. In particular, inadequate supports from the
government and social services as well as insufficient protection from the police place

47

Indigenous women at great risk on a daily basis (Amnesty International 2009; Human
Rights Watch 2013). These factors have played a role in the national epidemic o f missing
and murdered Indigenous women across Canada.

The issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women has been occurring from
coast to coast within Canada for decades. In 2010 the Native Women’s Association of
Canada estimated that there were approximately 582 missing and murdered Indigenous
women and girls in Canada (NWAC 2010). In 2013, after conducting a comprehensive
study, University of Ottawa PhD student Maryanne Pearce estimated that this number
was closer to 824 (Pearce 2013, ii). A recent report released by the RCMP in May 2014
revealed that between 1980 and 2012 there are, “ 1,181 police recorded incidents o f
Aboriginal female homicides and unresolved missing Aboriginal females” (RCMP 2014,
3). O f these cases, there are 164 missing Aboriginal women and 1017 homicide victims
(ibid). This drastic spike in numbers has prompted a number of advocacy groups,
nongovernmental organizations and Indigenous communities to call on the federal
government to conduct a national public inquiry into the shocking number of Indigenous
women and girls who have disappeared (Barerra 2013). In the fall of 2013, United
Nations human rights investigator, James Anaya, backed this call for an inquiry. While
Anaya recognized that the Canadian government has taken some steps to address this
issue, he believes much more can be done and that a national inquiry is needed to address
the “disturbing phenomena” o f murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls in
Canada (Globe and Mail 2013). On March 7th, 2014 the Conservative government tabled
a long awaited report from a special committee that explored the national issue of missing

48

and murdered Indigenous women and girls (Mas 2014). While the report made 16
recommendations it did not suggest that a national public inquiry was necessary (ibid).

4.3 - The Highway of Tears and its Investigation
The Highway of Tears represents a local case of missing and murdered Aboriginal
women and girls in Canada. Because of the high concentration of violence towards
women in northern British Columbia, many questions have been raised about whether or
not this is targeted violence. Furthermore, concerns have been raised about the
vulnerability of women living in communities along Highway 16. In this section I will
describe the case and investigation of the Highway of Tears. I seek to not only provide an
overview o f the RCMPs investigation but to also recognize the names of the women and
girls listed by the RCMP. The purpose of describing the women and girls beyond just
listing their names is to honor them and their stories rather than bury them within the
story of the Highway of Tears.

In November 2004 the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) launched what is
known as “Project E-Pana” to conduct homicide investigations related to nine cases of
missing and murdered women and girls between the ages of 14 and 25 who disappeared
along Highway 16 from Prince George to Prince Rupert, BC (Culbert and Hall 2009).
Three years later in 2007, the scope and nature of the investigation was changed. The
RCMP expanded the geographical scope of the case to include unsolved cases along
other major highways in BC including those leading to Kamloops, Merritt, and 100 Mile
House (Culbert and Hall 2009). As a result, nine additional cases were added to the
RCMP's list of victims. Women placed on the official victim list had to meet a minimum
of two out of three criteria cited by the RCMP (Culbert and Hall 2009). This criteria

49

required that (1) the victim was female; (2) the victim was engaged in some type of high
risk activity such as hitchhiking or the sex trade; and (3) the victim either disappeared or
was found murdered within one mile of highways 16, 97, or 5 (Carrier Sekani Family
Services 2014; Culbert and Hall 2009).

Figure 1 - Map: The Highway of Tears'

P ro v in c ia l,

The map above (Fig. 1) represents the geographical location o f the Highway of
Tears and how it has changed since 2004. Point A to B represents Highway 16 West from
Prince Rupert to Prince George, British Columbia. This is the original definition of the
Highway of Tears as cited by the communities and confirmed by Project E-Pana in 2004
(Culbert and Hall 2009). Point B to C represents Highway 97 South from Prince George
to Kamloops and Point C represents Highway 5 from Kamloops to Merritt, BC. These

4 Using information from Culbert and Hall 2009, the author created this map.

50

highways were added to the E-Pana investigation in 2007 (Culbert and Hall 2009). It
should also be noted that the E-Pana team extended Highway 16 East as far as Hinton,
Alberta in 2007 (ibid). Using the criteria listed above and the expanded scope o f the
investigation the RCMP identified eighteen cases related to the Highway of Tears based
on 619 unsolved files o f violence against women in British Columbia and Alberta
(Culbert and Hall 2009).

The first woman listed on Project E-Pana's official list is twenty-six year old
Gloria Levina Moody who disappeared on October 25, 1969 after leaving a bar in
Williams Lake, BC. Her body was discovered the next day 10km west o f Williams Lake
(Culbert and Hall 2009; Nanaimo Daily News 2009).

One month later in November 1969, eighteen-year-old Micheline Pare
disappeared while hitchhiking between Fort St. John and Hudson's Hope, BC. Her body
was discovered in August 1970, 21km from where she was last seen (Culbert and Hall
2009; Nanaimo Daily News 2009).

In October of 1973, Gale Ann Weys disappeared between Clearwater and
Kamloops, BC while walking home from a gas station. Her body was discovered in April
1974 just off Highway 5 only 11km south of Clearwater, BC. Gale was only nineteen
years old at the time of her disappearance (Culbert and Hall 2009; Nanaimo Daily News
2009).

One month after the disappearance of Gale Ann Weys, nineteen-year-old Pamela
Darlington disappeared while hitchhiking to a local bar in the Kamloops region. Her body

51

was discovered the next morning near the Thompson River (Culbert and Hall 2009;
Nanaimo Daily News 2009).

In August of 1974, sixteen-year-old Colleen Macmillen disappeared near 100
Mile House, BC. One month later her body was discovered 25km south o f 100 Mile
House (Culbert and Hall 2009; Nanaimo Daily News 2009).

In December of 1974, fifteen-year-old Monica Ignas disappeared while she was
walking home from school in Thornhill, BC. Her body was found about 6km from
Terrace, BC in April 1975 (Nanaimo Daily News 2009).

Three years later, in May o f 1978, twelve-year-old Monica Jack disappeared
while riding her bike along Highway 5 near Merritt, BC. Monica’s body was found in
1995. Monica is the youngest victim on the RCMP's list (Culbert and Hall 2009;
Nanaimo Daily News 2009).

In May o f 1981 thirty-three year old Maureen Mosie was believed to have been
hitchhiking near Salmon Arm, BC when she disappeared. Her body was discovered near
Kamloops the following day (Culbert and Hall 2009; Nanaimo Daily News 2009).

In May 1983, sixteen-year-old Shelley Ann Bascu was walking west on Highway
16 returning to her home in Hinton, Alberta when she disappeared. Her case is the only
Albertan case listed by the RCMP and remains unsolved (Culbert and Hall 2009;
Nanaimo Daily News 2009).

52

Six years later in August 1989, twenty-four year old Alberta Williams left a pub
with a man in Prince Rupert, BC and was never seen again. A few weeks later her body
was discovered 37km east o f Prince Rupert (Culbert and Hall 2009; Nanaimo Daily News
2009).

In June 1990, sixteen-year-old Delphine Nikal went missing while hitchhiking
from Smithers, BC to her home in Telkwa, BC. She has never been found (Nanaimo
Daily News 2009).
On June 11, 1994, sixteen-year-old Ramona Wilson told her mother she was
going to a friend’s house near Smithers, BC. She never arrived. Her remains were
discovered in April 1995 near the Smithers Airport (Culbert and Hall 2009; Nanaimo
Daily News 2009).

In July 1994, fifteen-year-old Roxanne Thiara went missing in Prince George,
BC. At the time of her disappearance Roxanne was working the streets as a sex-trade
worker. She told her friend she was going to meet a john and was never seen again. Her
body was discovered one month later near Bums Lake, BC (Culbert and Hall 2009;
Nanaimo Daily News 2009).

A few months later, fifteen year old Alisha Germaine also disappeared in Prince
George, BC. Her body was discovered on December 9th, 1994. It is believe that Alisha
had been working the streets of Prince George as a sex trade worker (Culbert and Hall
2009).

53

In October 1995, nineteen-year-old Lana Derrick disappeared. She was last seen
at a service station near Thornhill, BC. She has never been found (Culbert and Hall
2009).

In June 2002 tree planter Nicole Hoar was last seen hitchhiking along Highway
16. Nicole has never been found. She is the only known Caucasian victim cited in the
RCMP's official investigation (Culbert and Hall 2009).

In 2005 twenty-two year old Tamara Chipman disappeared while hitchhiking
back to Terrace from Prince Rupert, BC. Her body has never been found (Culbert and
Hall; Nanaimo Daily News 2009).
The last and most recent victim to be listed on the RCMP’s official list is that of
Aielah Saric - Auger who was fourteen years old when she disappeared in Prince George,
BC in February 2006. Her body was found fifteen days later on Highway 16 near Tabor
Mountain (CBC 2006).

The women and girls listed above are the eighteen names listed on Project EPana’s official list of missing and murdered women. This list does not include women
and girls like Helen Claire Frost who was 17 years old when she disappeared on October
13, 1970 in Prince George, BC (Culbert 2009). Cecilia Nikal has often been included in
the discourse of the Highway of Tears however she is not included on the RCMP’s
official list for investigation. Cecilia was last seen on August 29, 1989 along Highway 16
near Smithers, BC (Culbert and Hall 2009). Twenty-one year old Cindy Burk went
missing while hitchhiking back to Saskatchewan after visiting her birth mother in the

54

Yukon in July 1990. Her body was discovered along the Alaska Highway between
Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, BC on July 24, 1990 (CBC News 2009). Another young
woman, Deena Braem was just 16 years old when she disappeared on September 25,
1999 in Quesnel, BC (Culbert 2009). Her body was found in December 1999, her case
remains unsolved (ibid). One o f the most recent and high profile cases in northern BC is
that of Madison Scott who disappeared from Hogsback Lake Campground in May 2011
(CBC News 2012a). The women and girls described above were not included in the
RCMP's investigation because they do not fit the criteria established by Project E-Pana.
Many family members of the missing women and girls not included in the RCMP’s
“official” investigation feel that their cases would be given more media attention and a
higher profile by the RCMP if they were included in the Highway of Tears (Culbert
2009).

It has been ten years since the RCMP established Project E-Pana. Since 2004 the
RCMP has had very few breakthroughs in these cases. Throughout their investigation the
the police have identified 2000 persons-of-interest and over 5000 people whose names
have overlapped in multiple files related to the missing women (Culbert and Hall 2009).
In the case of Colleen Macmillen, these databases led Project E-Pana to its first major
breakthrough. In September 2012, the RCMP announced new DNA evidence had linked
the death o f Colleen Macmillen to person-of-interest and deceased U.S. convict Bobby
Jack Fowler (CBC 2012b). This marked the first solved case of the E-Pana investigation
(ibid). While the RCMP was hopeful that Fowler could be connected to other victims on
the list, in September 2013, the RCMP announced that there was not enough sufficient
evidence to link Fowler to any additional cases in the Highway o f Tears investigation

55

{CBC 2013b). As Project E-Pana continues its investigation, many families have given up
all hope that the RCMP will solve the remaining cases (Culbert and Hall 2009). Instead,
many families have sought support elsewhere turning to their communities and activist
groups to raise awareness about their missing loved ones.

The RCMP investigation and its title “Project E-Pana” is not the language used by
local communities to describe this space, to the people in the communities of northern
BC and the interior this space is known as the “Highway of Tears” (Turenne-Sjolander
and Smith 2012, 4-5). The difference in language used to describe this space is the first of
many contradictions in the literature of the Highway o f Tears and represents a tension
between the RCMP and the communities (Carrier Sekani Family Services 2014, Culbert
and Hall 2009). This will be explored in more detail throughout the rest o f this thesis.

4.4 - Memorial, Activism and Policy Recommendations

In addition to the formal investigation of missing and murdered women and girls
in Northern BC activist and community groups have held a number o f events ranging
from candle lit vigils to community forums to raise awareness and discuss the issue of
missing women along the Highway of Tears. These events have often informed the
creation o f policy recommendations for the government, the RCMP and municipalities of
the north. In this section I will summarize activism and policy surrounding the Highway
of Tears. This will include community events and initiatives, advocacy research and
policy recommendations as a result o f symposiums and forums. I have chosen to include
these aspects in my case study because they play an important role in the story o f the
Highway of Tears and its legacy.

56

Community Events and Initiatives

There have been a number o f events held in various communities along the
Highway of Tears to remember missing loved ones and to raise awareness o f the large
number of missing and murdered women and girls in the area. The activist spirit of these
communities has brought attention to the Highway of Tears both nationally and
internationally. I have included these events because they are important part of the story
of the Highway of Tears. The role of the communities and the families o f the missing
women and girls is central to creating a legacy for missing and murdered sisters,
daughters and mothers.

The first time the term “Highway of Tears” was used was at a vigil held in
Terrace, BC in 1998 to remember six missing women (Rolston 2010; Terrace Standard
1998). The most well known community march was the “Take Back the Highway
Campaign” held in 2005 and the awareness walks and marches that started off the
Highway o f Tears Symposium in 2006 (Study Commission 2012, 1). An annual vigil is
held in Prince George, BC as well as other communities o f the north and across Canada
on October 4th of each year. This event, known as “The Sisters in Spirit” vigil is a part of
a broader national movement by the Native Women’s Association of Canada to honour
the lives o f missing and murdered women and girls in Canada (NWAC 2014).

Many families of the missing women hold annual memorial walks to
commemorate their loved ones. Gladys Radek, the aunt of Tamara Chipman, co-founded
the “Walk 4 Justice” campaign in 2008. Each year groups of advocates, families and
friends gather together and march from Prince Rupert, BC to Parliament Hill in Ottawa,

57

Ontario to raise awareness and to remember the missing and murdered women and girls
along the Highway o f Tears and across Canada (First Nations of British Columbia 2011).

The Highway of Tears website is another source of community activism and
public awareness. The website was originally established by a Prince George man named
Tony Romeyn in 2007 (Peebles, 2013a). While Romeyn had no direct connection to any
of the women or girls he created the site as a means to collect and share information
related to the Highway of Tears in hopes o f finding answers and creating more public
awareness (ibid). In 2013 he handed the domain name over to Carrier Sekani Family
Services (CSFS) (Peebles 2013a). Carrier Sekani Family Services turned the website into
a hub of information, awareness and memorial to the missing and murdered women and
girls o f the Highway o f Tears. The most recent initiative established through the website
is the “Community Safety Toolkit” used to educate communities about violence against
women (Carrier Sekani Family Services 2014).

The story o f the Highway o f Tears has resulted in widespread attention from
television and filmmakers. The American TV show “48 Hours” had a feature show on the
Highway of Tears in 2012. It is estimated that the airing o f the show resulted in nearly
350 tips made to the RCMP in regards to the Highway o f Tears (CBC 2012c). In 2006 the
National Film Board of Canada released a documentary entitled Finding Dawn. This film
addresses the national epidemic of murdered and missing Indigenous women in Canada
and places a spotlight on the Highway of Tears (National Film Board of Canada 2014). In
March 2014 a “hard hitting” documentary on the Highway of Tears was aired at the
Human Rights Watch Film Festival in Toronto, Ontario (Carrier Sekani Family Services
2014). Family members o f the missing women and community activists have played a

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key role in projects such as these in order to bring both national and international
attention to the story o f the Highway of Tears. This grassroots approach to public
awareness is an important part of maintaining a legacy for the missing women and girls
along the Highway of Tears.

Advocacy Research: The Role of NGOs

Several nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have conducted research to
evaluate the vulnerability of women, particularly First Nations women, in Northern
British Columbia. Most of this work frames the Highway o f Tears as a human rights issue
and seeks to bring attention to the high rates of violence towards Aboriginal women in
Canada. I have included the work of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch
because their reports have played an important role in bringing national attention to the
Highway o f Tears. As well, these groups have played a vital role in advocating for
change at both the provincial and federal levels o f government.

In 2004, human rights NGO Amnesty International released a report entitle No
More Stolen Sisters: A Human Rights Response to Discrimination and Violence against
Indigenous Women in Canada. This report “documented some o f the underlying causes
of violence against indigenous women carried out by both Indigenous and nonIndigenous men” (Amnesty International 2004,1). In 2009 Amnesty International
released an updated version of their 2004 report due to “an inadequate policy response to
violence against Indigenous women as illustrated by the handling o f missing persons
cases” (Amnesty International 2009, 4). This in depth report frames violence against
Indigenous women as a human rights issue. It also recognizes the overwhelming number

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of Indigenous women who have disappeared across Canada in recent decades (Amnesty
International 2009, 20). This report by Amnesty International has been vital in raising
public awareness regarding the gross violations of human rights that impact the lives of
Indigenous women across Canada.

In February 2013 after an extensive fact-finding investigation NGO Human
Rights Watch released a report entitled Those Who Take Us Away: Abusive Policing and
Failures in Protection o f Indigenous Women and Girls in Northern British Columbia,
Canada. The report documented RCMP violations o f the rights o f Indigenous women and
girls (Human Rights Watch 2013). They found that in ten towns across the north
violations had occurred including young women being pepper sprayed, a twelve year-old
girl being attacked by a police dog, women stripped searched by male officers and
women injured due to the use of excessive force (Human Rights Watch 2013, 8). The
report also included a number of recommendations made specifically to the government
o f Canada, the provincial government of British Columbia, the RCMP and the United
Nations Human Rights Council (Human Rights Watch 2013, 15). This report is important
to the story of the Highway of Tears because in many cases o f missing women and girls
the RCMP has failed to take the cases o f Indigenous women seriously often blaming the
victim for their disappearance (Turenne-Sjolander and Smith 2012, 5).

Framing missing and murdered women and girls as an issue of human rights has
brought both national and international attention to the Highway o f Tears and the
vulnerability of women and girls in northern British Columbia and across Canada. The
role of NGOs has been vital to the protection of vulnerable women. They have played a

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key role lobbying with the Canadian government to protect and uphold the human rights
of Indigenous women from coast to coast.

Policy Recommendations and Public Forums

Beyond the work of nongovernmental organizations, a number of policy
recommendations have been made at the municipal, provincial and federal government
levels. I have chosen to focus on two of the most high profile inquiries that have occurred
in the north: The Highway o f Tears Symposium and the Missing Women’s Commission o f
Inquiry Study Commission report. Each of these reports has provided extensive research
and recommendations to better protect Aboriginal women in British Columbia.

In 2006, the Highway of Tears Symposium was hosted in Prince George, BC. The
Symposium brought together families of the missing women, top RCMP officers, BC’s
solicitor general, social workers and First Nation leaders to address the issue o f missing
women in northern BC (Lheidli T ’enneh First Nation et al 2006). The two-day
Symposium produced a detailed report with recommendations for communities o f the
North to implement in order to protect vulnerable women. Part o f these recommendations
were that signs be put up along Highway 16 to warn the public about the dangers o f
hitchhiking (ibid). Since 2006, many of the Symposium’s recommendations have not
been implemented although signs have gone up in a few communities along Highway 16.

Between 2011 and 2013 the communities along the Highway of Tears were
included in the “Missing Women Commission of Inquiry”. The mandate of the Inquiry
was to investigate the missing and murdered women o f Vancouver’s downtown east side

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in relation to serial killer Robert “Willie” Pickton (Missing Women Commission of
Inquiry 2012). This mandate was expanded with the creation of a Study Commission to
explore issues related to missing and murdered women and girls across British Columbia
with a specific focus on the north (Study Commission 2012, 1). The Study Commission
held community hearings across northern BC and a pre-hearing conference in Prince
George. In February 2012 they released a report entitled Standing Together and Moving
Forward: Report on the Pre-Hearing Conference in Prince George and the Northern
Community Forums. The report outlines the outcome of the community forums and
hearings and summarizes the factors contributing to high rates of violence against women
in northern BC (Study Commission 2012, 1). It also includes a series o f policy
recommendations for “moving forward” (Study Commission 2012,19). As well, the
Commissioners report at the close o f the Missing Women Commission o f Inquiry
addressed gaps in the north and provided recommendations to further protect women
along Highway 16 (Missing Women Commission o f Inquiry 2012). Although the
Commission and its process was highly controversial and at times criticized for its failure
to include the voices of indigenous women (CTV News 2012), the report from the Study
Commission and its recommendations have been an important part of bringing the issues
that women face in northern BC to the attention of the provincial and federal
governments.

4.5 - Conclusion

In this chapter I have outlined the multiple dimensions of the case of the Highway
of Tears. The purpose o f this was to provide scope and context to my case study. I began
by describing the national issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada

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in order to provide some context for the local case of the Highway o f Tears. The second
part o f this chapter focused on the local case of the Highway of Tears summarizing the
role o f the RCMP and its investigation. In this section I sought to bring honor to the
missing women by listing the names of the women and girls who are included in the
RCMP’s official investigation. In the last section I summarized the various community
initiatives, advocacy work, and policy recommendations that also play a key role in the
story of the Highway of Tears and its legacy. This case study has situated the broader
social and cultural context of my analysis; the findings of this analysis will be
summarized in the next chapter.

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CHAPTER 5: REPRESENTATIONS OF SECURITY AND INSECURITY IN THE
MEDIA DISCOURSE OF THE HIGHWAY OF TEARS

5.1 - Introduction
The critical discourse analysis that I conducted revealed a number of interesting
findings about how the concepts of security and insecurity are represented in the media
discourse of the Highway of Tears. In this chapter I will summarize the findings of my
critical discourse analysis. The central objective of this chapter is to answer my research
sub-questions. I intend to do this in four ways. First, I identify common themes in the
language used to describe security and insecurity in the context o f the Highway o f Tears.
In this section I also reflect on the factors contributing to insecurity that were identified in
the discourse. Second, I summarize the framing of protection and safety in the discourse
of the Highway of Tears. Third, I explore who was identified as vulnerable and in need of
protection. And finally, I list and evaluate the narrators of security and how they located
security and insecurity in the case o f the Highway of Tears.
5.2 - Key Words and Identifiers of Security and Insecurity
The first question that I addressed in my analysis was: What words are used to
identify security and insecurity in the story of the Highway of Tears? In order to answer
this question, in my analysis I listed the words used to describe both security and
insecurity in the media discourse. My analysis revealed that insecurity was often
described as being caused by a number of different factors. These factors and the
different words used to represent security and insecurity will be described in more detail
throughout this section.

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Words Used to Describe Security

The concept of security was described in a number of ways in the media discourse
of the Highway of Tears. In order to summarize my findings I have identified five
common themes in the language used to describe security. These themes were identified
based on how often they showed up in the discourse, they include: (1) security; (2)
closure and healing; (3) advocacy; (4) justice and (5) accountability. I will expand on
each of these themes below.
The first theme that was identified in the language was “security”. This was the
most common theme in the discourse occurring 41 times. Words used to describe security
included “safety”, “protection”; “well-being”, “security” and “prevention” (Benn 2012;
Nielsen 2013a; Northern View 2009; Quezada 2005). Safety or the feeling of being safe
was most often associated with “safe highways” or “safe transportation” (James 2013;
2014). This finding suggested that the Highway o f Tears has often been framed as a site
o f security and insecurity. This is something that I had anticipated from the outset o f this
research.
The second theme that was identified in my analysis was “closure” and “healing”.
Both family members of the missing and murdered women and girls and community
advocates used these terms to describe security. This theme occurred 38 times in the
media discourse. The words used to describe closure and healing as security were:
“courage”, “answers”, “reconciliation”, “honour”, “respect”, “hope”, “strength in
support”, “unity”, “community”, “equality” and “remembrance” (Hale 2011; James
2012a; James 2012b; Peebles 2013c; Thomas 2011). In this view security is about the

65

relationship and transparency between communities and police and honouring those who
are missing and murdered by preserving their legacy.
The third theme of “advocacy” was identified 27 times in the discourse (Peebles
2009a). This term was also described as “awareness” and “our voices being heard”
(Prince George Citizen 2012; Thomas 2011). This theme is closely connected to the
fourth theme o f “justice” which occurred 13 times in the media discourse (Peebles
2010a). The family members most commonly used these terms to describe security and
the local advocates. These words are closely related to the theme o f closure and healing.
Therefore, security is seen as closure and healing from what has happened in the past but
it is also about the ability to move forward and prevent further tragedies.
The fifth theme is best described as “accountability” (Thomas 2011). Security as
accountability was most often related to the expectation that the police and government
should provide safety and protection and occurred 24 times in the discourse. A number of
different words were used to describe accountability. These included: “resolution”,
“answers”, “progress”, “trust”, “commitment”, “cooperation”, “leadership”, “capacity
building”, “relationship building”, “dialogue”, and “change” (Blanchfield 2013; Thomas
2011; Northern View 2011; Peebles 2013b; Prince George Citizen 2012). These words
suggest that security along the Highway of Tears is not only about solving the cases of
the missing and murdered women and girls, it is also about maintaining relationships and
transparency between all of the actors involved in the Highway of Tears. How the
concept of security was located and described in the discourse was often dependent on
who was narrating or speaking in the text.

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Words Used to Describe Insecurity
The concept of insecurity was also described in a number o f different ways.
However, insecurity was not described explicitly in the discourse. Based on the findings
of my analysis I have identified four common themes in the words used to describe
insecurity. These themes were determined by how often they showed up in the media
discourse. They include: (1) violence; (2) victim blaming; (3) hitchhiking; and (4)
systemic Issues.
Violence was the first theme of insecurity, this theme occurred 46 times in the
discourse. A number of different words were used that referred to violence. These
included: “attacked”, “targeted”, “sexual violence” such as “rape” or “torture”, “assault”,
“threats”, “the cycle of violence”, “domestic violence” and “trauma” (Blanchfield 2013;
James 2012b; Peebles 2013c; Thomas 2011). The language used to describe violence
suggests that there are a number of different types of violence that contribute to the
vulnerability of women in northern British Columbia. Most of the literature around the
Highway of Tears argued that women, namely First Nations women, are five times more
likely to experience violence (whether it be domestic violence or sexual violence) than
any other group in Canada (Amnesty International 2009, 1). Therefore, the concept of
insecurity framed as violence in the discourse is not surprising. However, it is significant
in the case of the Highway of Tears because violence in northern BC is so blatantly
targeted towards First Nations women.
Closely connected to violence was the use of the term “victim” which was found
45 times in the discourse of insecurity (Peebles 2010a). The missing and murdered

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women and girls along the Highway o f Tears were most commonly referred to or
grouped together as “victims” (Thomas 2011). The term victim was connected to the
feeling or experience o f insecurity. As a result, being a victim was framed as being
“silenced”, “vulnerable” and “targeted” (Schierir 2010; Thomas 2011; Quezada 2005).
The discourse also suggested that “the implicit blaming o f victims” occurred repeatedly
in the case o f the Highway o f Tears and was seen as creating insecurity (Smithers Interior
News 2010). This feeling of insecurity is closely related to a number o f factors that
contribute to insecurity such as race, gender and socio-economic issues. These will be
discussed at length at the end of this section.
Within the discourse o f the Highway of Tears, the term “hitchhiking” was found
35 times in the discourse and was often referred to as “high-risk behavior” and framed
alongside insecurity (Herbert 2013; Paillard 2012a; Paillard 2012b). Hitchhiking is not
commonly framed as such a dangerous activity. Historically, hitchhiking was considered
to be an activity that is adventurous and free spirited (Gamer 2008, 3). However, in the
case of the Highway of Tears hitchhiking has been constructed as “dangerous”, “high
risk”, “vulnerable” and a “dangerous lifestyle choice” (Clark 2012a; Neilsen 2012;
Prince George Citizen 2013a; Thomas 2009). As well, hitchhiking was often linked with
other high risk behaviours including drug use and survival sex work (Clark 2012a). It was
also connected to implicit victim blaming {Smithers Interior News 2010). Because of this,
hitchhiking was regularly constructed as causing insecurity in the media discourse.
Finally, insecurity was also constructed as the result of a broken system. This
theme was found 16 times in the media discourse. Systemic issues were identified with
words like: “systemic discrimination”, “systemic complacency”, “systemic neglect”, “a

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flawed system”, and “a broken system” (Blanchfield 2013; Northern View 2011; Smithers
Interior News 2010; Thomas 2011). The system generally referred to society and
government systems, which the discourse suggests have played a role in causing
insecurity. Systemic issues were often blamed for allowing cases like the Highway of
Tears to “fall to the wayside”(Perry 2013) ignoring “the most marginalized people”
(Prince George Citizen 2013a) and causing “devaluation that stems from lack o f place in
society” (Peebles 2013b). Therefore, the failure of the system to protect women and girls
along the Highway of Tears was often used to describe insecurity. This is related to some
of the factors that have contributed to insecurity.
The concept of insecurity was represented in the discourse as targeted violence
that often resulted in the victimization of women based on gender, race and socio­
economic issues. Hitchhiking and systemic issues were also associated with insecurity
and were often constructed in a negative way. It was also seen that insecurity was caused
by a number of different factors. I will expand on these factors below.
Factors Contributing to Insecurity
Beyond the terms used to identify security and insecurity in the media discourse
o f the Highway of Tears, I found that insecurity was not only described with terms such
as “violence”, “victim”, “hitchhiking” and “systemic issues”, there were also a number of
factors identified that contribute to insecurity. These factors include: race, gender, socio­
economic issues, and geography. Each o f these factors is consistent with the literature on
missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada (Amnesty International
2004; 2009; Human Rights Watch 2013; Peach and Ladner 2008). While these factors

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were previously outlined in the literature, it is important to explore how they were framed
within the discourse and context of the Highway of Tears.

The experience o f insecurity was often framed as simply “being an Aboriginal
woman” (Scoffield 2011). The factors of gender and race were reoccurring themes in the
discourse of the Highway o f Tears. Race was most commonly described as “being
Aboriginal”, “Native” and “First Nations” (Peebles 2013b; Thomas 2011). Racism was
also identified several times as one o f the reasons why First Nations women were
targeted along the Highway of Tears (Peebles 2011). Gender was most commonly
described as being “female”, a “woman”, or a “girl” (Nielsen 2012; Scoffield 2011;
Thomas 2011). However, gender and race were often combined to describe why the
violence along the Highway o f Tears was targeted.
Socio-economic issues were also identified as contributing to insecurity. The
discourse suggested that lack o f place in society because of gender and race is further
perpetuated by “poverty”, “poor health”, “access to clean water”, “inadequate housing”,
“lack of healthcare and education” and “socio-economic marginalization” (Hamilton
2009; Peebles 2006a; Peebles 2007a; Peebles 2010b). Each o f these factors was cited as
contributing to the marginalization of First Nations communities, namely First Nations
women, along the Highway o f Tears (Peebles 2006a). Because of this, socio-economic
issues were often linked to insecurity in the media discourse of the Highway o f Tears.
Insecurity was also connected to geography. The location of the Highway of
Tears in rural northern British Columbia was identified as a central factor contributing to
insecurity. From this perspective, insecurity is related to “the alienation o f First Nation

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communities”, “rural isolation”, “lack o f services” in the north, and “class and cultural
problems in the north” (Peebles 2006b; Peebles 2010b). This isolation is connected to the
dangers of hitchhiking and the vulnerability of First Nations women living in
communities along the Highway of Tears (Herbert 2013).
The words identified as representing security and insecurity in the media
discourse o f the Highway of Tears revealed that security and insecurity are often framed
in different ways. It was also seen that a number of factors contribute to insecurity along
the Highway of Tears. Race, gender, socio-economic status and geographical location all
played a role in contributing to insecurity. In the section that follows I will explore how
the concepts of safety and protection are constructed in the media discourse of the
Highway of Tears.
5.3 - Safety and Protection
My second research sub-question is: Who or what brings safety or protection?
Who or what is identified as vulnerable and needs protection? And, what does protection
look like? I will address each of these questions systematically in the next two sections of
this chapter. In this section I will focus on how protection was defined and who or what
was identified as bringing safety or protection in the discourse. In order to answer these
questions I did two things. First, I identified what words were used to describe protection
and safety. Second, I acknowledged the key actors who were identified as bringing safety
and protection in the discourse. The analysis revealed that protection and safety were
framed in a number of different ways. It was also seen that layers and relationships of

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power influenced who was framed as bringing protection and how safety and protection
were conceptualized.

What words are used to describe protection?
One o f the questions that I asked in regards to safety and protection was: what
does protection look like? The language used to describe protection revealed that
protection was conceptualized in a number of different ways. Two common themes were
identified in the words used to describe protection in the media discourse of the Highway
of Tears. First, protection was framed as solving the cases connected to the Highway of
Tears. Second, protection was seen as creating a legacy for the missing and murdered
women and girls along the Highway of Tears by protecting women and girls in northern
BC and preventing further violence and crimes.
In the discourse, the RCMP and Project E-Pana most commonly framed
protection and safety alongside the investigations. The words used to describe protection
in this way include: “active investigations”, “evidence”, “solving the case”, and
“advances in technology” (Blanchfield 2013; James 2012a; Quezada 2005). For example,
the RCMP stated, “There is no such thing as a cold case. Our investigators approach
every case as an active investigation” (James 2012a). It was also seen that solving the
cases involved maintaining positive relationships with the families of the missing and
murdered women along the Highway of Tears (Clark 2012b). In one article the RCMP
stated, “we’re always hopeful that there will be closure for the rest o f the families”
(James 2012a). The RCMP was often framed as working hard to maintain relationships
with family members by language like, “trust”, “cooperation”, “dialogue”, and

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“information provided by RCMP to the families” (Burgmann 2011; James 2012a; Nielsen
2011). Ultimately, the concept of protection is located within the on-going investigations
being conducted by the RCMP. Therefore, for protection to be achieved these cases need
to be solved.

In the media discourse, protection was also constructed through the legacy of the
missing and murdered women and girls along the Highway o f Tears. Therefore,
achieving protection meant preventing further violence and crimes and protecting women
and girls in northern British Columbia. In this sense, protection is located as prevention.
The words used to describe protection in this way included: “funding”, “research”,
“public education”, “national action plan”, “national public inquiry”,
“safe/public/affordable transportation”, “billboards”, “community awareness”, “cellphone
service”, “emergency response plan”, “youth education” and “advocacy” (Benn 2012;
James 2014; Northern View 2009; Northern View 2011; Peebles 2007b; Thomas 2011).
Each of these words suggests specific actions that will bring safety and protection. The
most common term used to describe protection was “national public inquiry” (Thomas
2011). In one article, Beverly Jacobs of the Native Women’s Association of Canada was
quoted saying, “What we want is a national inquiry into this issue. We also need to see
resources put into communities to address the issue of violence against Aboriginal
women” (Canadian Press 2006). The language used to describe protection as prevention
suggests that the Highway of Tears is more than just something that has happened in the
past, it is something that is continuing to threaten communities of northern BC and
requires further advocacy, education and awareness in order to maintain protection and
safety.

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The words used to identify safety and protection in the media discourse revealed
two different perspectives on what protection might look like. From one perspective,
protection is described as something that is immediate and limited to the parameters of
the Highway of Tears and its investigation. The discourse also revealed that protection is
something that is long-term and should establish a legacy for the missing and murdered
women and girls associated with the Highway of Tears. Both themes suggest that
protection involves working towards and achieving tangible outcomes such as education,
awareness, research, a national public inquiry and on-going active police investigations.
Who or what is described as bringing safety or protection?
In order to answer the question, who or what is described as bringing safety or
protection? I identified key actors that were framed as providing safety or protection. The
analysis revealed that there were a number of different actors involved in bringing
protection. Several actors were framed as advocating for and actively pursuing
protection. These actors included local advocates, social service agencies, First Nations
communities, and NGOs. Government actors and the police were often framed as the
central actors bringing protection. In this sense, the government and the RCMP were
obligated to bring protection giving them power over who gets security and what security
might look like. This revealed that layers and relationships of power often influenced the
framing of protection and safety. In this section I will expand on this finding by exploring
the RCMP and the government’s role in bringing protection along the Highway of Tears.
The government and its various levels were identified as a key actor bringing
protection and safety. In the discourse the government included municipal governments

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in communities along Highway 16 (Herbert 2013), the liberal government of British
Columbia (James 2013) and the federal government of Canada (Pedwell and Nielsen
2013). Within each of the levels o f government different parties and individuals were
identified as bringing protection in different ways. There was a clear distinction between
those who were actively working towards protection and those who were obligated to
bring protection but were not. This distinction was based on power and will be discussed
further below.
City council members from municipal governments of communities along
Highway 16 were actively involved in raising awareness and attempting to work together
to protect communities along the Highway o f Tears (Peebles 2007a). This was
particularly evident following the recommendations o f the Highway of Tears Symposium
in 2006 (Peebles 2006c). Similarly, local Members o f the Legislative Assembly o f British
Columbia (MLAs) also played an active role in lobbying the provincial government for
further support along the Highway o f Tears (Peebles 2010a). While these government
actors played a key role in advocating for protection and safety, the discourse framed the
Liberal government of BC and the Conservative government of Canada as the central
actors bringing protection in the case of the Highway of Tears.
In the discourse, the provincial government most often referred to the Liberal
government in power in British Columbia. The actors most commonly identified in the
discourse were former Premier Gordon Campbell, the Ministry of Public Safety and
Solicitor General, the Attorney General, the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry
o f Children and Families (James 2014). Each o f these actors was repeatedly framed as
bringing safety and protection to women and girls in BC. For example, Justice Minister,

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Suzanne Anton, was quoted saying, “All o f us need to work together to ensure this
doesn’t happen again” (James 2014). However, the discourse also revealed that these
actors were expected to bring protection by advocacy groups, families, and communities.
In one article North Coast MLA, Gary Coons said, “even when a serious attempt is made
to try to do something the government drops the ball and doesn’t act” (Hale 2011). This
distinction in the framing revealed that there was some expectation that the provincial
government was obligated to enforce protection along the Highway o f Tears. Therefore,
the provincial government is given some level of power over issues occurring along the
Highway of Tears and determining how they are dealt with.
The federal government was also identified as an actor that was obligated to bring
protection. Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, was identified several times as one o f the
central actors in the discourse o f protection (Pedwell and Nielsen 2013). However, the
Prime Minister was not identified as actively pursuing protection. Instead advocates,
families and select government officials repeatedly called on Stephen Harper and the
Conservative government o f Canada to bring protection to the missing and murdered
women and girls in northern British Columbia (Blanchfield 2013; Pedwell and Nielsen
2013). By placing this expectation on the government, the discourse revealed that the
federal government was not only obligated to bring protection, they were also framed as
having power over what protection means in the case of the Highway of Tears. Therefore,
failure to meet this obligation was framed as perpetuating insecurity.
The police were identified as the main body or actor involved in bringing
protection along the Highway of Tears. However, there seemed to be some discrepancy
as to which department of the RCMP was in charge of the case of the Highway o f Tears.

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Several different units were listed as bringing protection. These included: “Project EPANA”, “E-Division”; and the “Major Crimes Unit” (Paillard 2012b; Peebles 2006a).
Each of these terms referred to different units within the RCMP, yet they were used
synonymously to describe the role of the police in the Highway of Tears investigation.
The discourse also revealed that there was a difference between the active investigation
carried out by the police as a means to bring protection and the feeling that the police
were simply not doing enough to bring protection. This expectation stemmed mainly
from the family members of the missing and murdered women and girls in northern BC.
For example, the RCMP was quoted in the discourse saying, “this matter is solely in the
hands of the RCMP” (Koopmans 2010). However, the family members struggled with the
RCMP’s role. Matilda Wilson, the mother of Ramona Wilson, stated, “I don’t think the
RCMP know how they have traumatized us over and over again each time they come and
tell us there is nothing new in the case” (Peebles 2006a). Despite criticism from the
families, which will be discussed later in this chapter, the RCMP was listed as the central
actor bringing protection and safety in the case of the Highway of Tears. Because the
police were framed as one of the central actors bringing protection, they were also given
power over who gets protection and determining what exactly this protection will look
like.
As has been seen, a number of key actors were identified in the discourse as
bringing safety and protection. Local advocates, families, communities, and select
government officials all played a very active role in advocating for safety and protection.
From this perspective, protection was framed as prevention and focused on creating a
legacy for the missing and murdered women and girls along the Highway of Tears by

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preventing further violence and crimes. The provincial government o f BC and the federal
government of Canada were expected to bring protection by providing closure to the
families and preventing this tragedy from happening again. The police were framed as
bringing protection in the form of active investigations and solved cases. The discourse
revealed that there was a distinction between what the police conceptualized as protection
and what the families expected protection to look like. The RCMP and the government
were framed as the central actors bringing protection. However, this placed these actors
in positions o f power over those who were considered vulnerable and in need of
protection. Therefore, it was seen that relationships and experiences of power impacted
experiences o f security and insecurity in the case of the Highway of Tears (Stem 2005,
32). In the next section I will explore who was framed as vulnerable in the discourse.
5.4 - Vulnerability and Protection: Who Counts?
Drawing on my second research sub-question, in this section I will answer the
question: who or what is identified as vulnerable and in need of protection? This question
was one of the most important questions in my analysis of the media discourse of the
Highway of Tears. Those who were described as vulnerable were most often identified as
“young women”, “vulnerable persons”, “female hitchhikers”, “Aboriginal women and
children”, “girls - not just grown women”, and the “women and their families” (Clark
2012b; Nielsen 2011; Northern View 2011; Peebles 2007a; Smithers Interior News 2010).
This language was regularly linked to the language o f “the 18 women who went missing
or were found murdered along the highway and their families” or “the Highway of Tears”
(Clark 2012a; James 2012). What was interesting about this language is that it revealed
competing frames o f the Highway o f Tears. This caused me to ask further questions

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about whom or what counts in the investigation of the Highway of Tears and in turn who
qualifies for security, safety and protection. In this section I will explore who is described
as vulnerable and in need o f protection in the discourse o f the Highway of Tears.

The framing of the Highway of Tears as a local site is significant because it
separates the Highway o f Tears from the broader national issue of missing and murdered
indigenous women and girls in Canada. At the local level the media discourse described
those who are vulnerable and needing protection as “the 18 women who went missing or
were found murdered along the highway and their families” or more specifically “the
Highway o f Tears” or “the Highway of Tears cases” (Clark 2012a; James 2012). The
number of women who are included in the discourse o f the Highway o f Tears, the
definition of the Highway itself, the timeline of the disappearances and the names o f the
women and girls and how they are framed all played an important role in how
vulnerability and protection were framed in the media discourse. I will discuss each of
these elements below.
The number of missing and murdered women and girls in the case of the Highway
of Tears often varied throughout the discourse. The most common number used in the
discourse was “the 18 women murdered or missing along the highway” (James 2012).
This number is consistent with the official investigation that is being conducted by the
RCMP (Culbert 2009). However, the discourse also revealed several different numbers
that were used to describe the missing and murdered women along the Highway of Tears.
These included, “ 10 murdered and disappeared women along Highway 16” (Bender
2008a), “nine women have vanished” {Prince George Citizen 2009) “eight women along
the Highway of Tears” (Canadian Press 2006), and “seven victims from the Highway of

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Tears” (Trick 2006a). There are several reasons why different numbers could have been
used to describe the Highway of Tears. First, the timeline of the newspapers studied was
from 2004 to 2014. In 2007, the RCMP increased the number of victims in their
investigation from 9 to 18 that could explain the competing frames used to describe the
number of women and girls in the media discourse (Culbert 2009). Furthermore, because
the timeline stretched back until 2004 two additional women went missing or were found
murdered between 2004 and 2006 resulting in the number of women and girls associated
with highway 16 to rise from 7 to 9 (Culbert and Hall 2009). The discourse also
suggested that beyond the official RCMP investigation, the number of missing and
murdered women in northern British Columbia actually ranged between 18 and 35 (Trick
2006b). The range in numbers used to describe the Highway of Tears suggested that only
certain women and girls were associated with the official case o f the Highway o f Tears.
Therefore, only some o f the women and girls who have disappeared are considered
vulnerable and in need of protection.
The definition o f the highway itself was also framed differently throughout the
discourse. The Highway of Tears is most commonly associated with Highway 16 (see
Fig. 1, p.50). However, the discourse also identified “Highway 97”, “Highway 5” and
“Highway 1” as being a part of the Highway of Tears (Paillard 2012b). Furthermore,
Highway 16 was typically framed as “Highway 16 West” (Trick 2006c) between Prince
Rupert and Prince George despite the fact that Aielah Saric Auger's body was found
outside of Prince George on Highway 16 towards Jasper, Alberta and Shelley Ann Bascu
went missing near Hinton, Alberta (Culbert and Hall 2009). The different ways in which
the highway was framed in the discourse suggest that once again only certain women and

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girls are considered vulnerable and in need of protection. It was seen that women who
disappeared or were found murdered along Highways 16, 97, 1 and 5 were included in
the discourse of protection. This disregarded a number of women and girls who have
disappeared in other spaces across northern BC and its interior.

In the same way, the timeline associated with the Highway o f Tears was described
differently throughout the discourse. The timeline was most commonly described as
“ 1969 to 2006” however, 1989 and 1990 were also used as the starting point for the
Highway o f Tears cases (Peebles 2006c; Peebles 2006d). As noted above, the different
ways in which the timeline was framed revealed that those who were seen as vulnerable
had to fit within a specific time and space in order to be considered in need of protection
and safety.
Finally, the women and girls who were identified as vulnerable and in need of
protection were often framed as “victims” in the media discourse. However, the families
o f the missing and murdered women and girls sought to humanize their daughters,
mothers and sisters by using terms like “girls - not grown women” and “mothers,
daughters, best friends” {Smithers Interior News 2010). In the discourse the women and
girls were often, but not always, listed by name. The discourse listed the women by
name, age and location of disappearance several times. The 18 women associated with
the RCMP’s official investigation were the names most commonly used in the discourse.
However, the most common name associated with the Highway of Tears was that of
Nicole Hoar who’s name and story was published most often in the media discourse
(Peebles 2004; 2006a). The stories o f Ramona Wilson, Tamara Chipman, and Aielah
Saric Auger were also prominent in the discourse (Peebles 2006; 2007b; Smithers

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Interior News 2010; Thomas 2011). However, they were not given as much attention as
the case o f Nicole Hoar, “the only white girl” in the case of the Highway o f Tears
(Peebles 2004). The stories of Gloria Moody, Gale Ann Weys, Pamela Darlington,
Colleen MacMillen, Maureen Mosie, Monica Jack, Monica Ignas, Alberta Williams,
Delphine Nikal, Roxanne Thiara, Alishia Germaine and Lana Derrick were all mentioned
at least once (Peebles 2004; 2006a; 2006e). Shelley Ann Bascu, the only woman from
Alberta, was only ever mentioned when listed alongside the 18 official victims associated
with the RCMP investigation (Peebles 2006a). In addition to this, a number of women
and girls were identified in the discourse that were not associated with the official list
despite the fact that they all disappeared or were found murdered in northern British
Columbia. These names included: Cecilia Nikal, Deena Braem, Mary Jane Hill and
Wendy Ratte (Peebles 2004; 2006a; 2013b).
The women were often framed as “last seen hitchhiking” or “suspected to have
been hitchhiking” along the highway (Paillard 2012a). The discourse described the
women associated with the official list as “women who fit the victim profile” or
“Aboriginal girls (the primary mark for murder or disappearance on the highway since
about 1989)” (Peebles 2006c). One article even separated the women into groups based
on their status of missing or murdered. The article stated, “For most people, the victims
are Ramona Wilson, Lana Derrick, Roxanne Thiara, Alishia Germaine and Aielah Saric
Auger. All were found dead. Those who are missing include: Alberta Williams, Delphine
Nikal, Nicole Hoar and Tamara Chipman” (Peebles 2006a). The way in which the
women and girls were classified and grouped together in the discourse suggest only
certain women are considered vulnerable and in need of protection. Furthermore,

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vulnerability was linked to high-risk activity such as hitchhiking or substance abuse. The
women and girls were most often framed as victims, which were seen to be consistent
with being an Aboriginal woman. This suggests that vulnerability is closely connected to
identity in the discourse o f the Highway of Tears and will be discussed in more detail in
the next chapter.
The media discourse also framed the Highway of Tears alongside the missing and
murdered women o f Vancouver's downtown east side and the broader issue of missing
and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada. In the case of Vancouver's
downtown east side, those who were described as vulnerable and needing protection were
framed as, “names associated with the Highway o f Tears, the northern women who fell
victim to the downtown of Vancouver, and many others spread across time and
geography” (Peebles 2013c). The women and girls o f the Highway o f Tears were also
connected to the national issue of murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls. As
a result those who were described as vulnerable were framed as, “one of several hundred
Indigenous women and girls who have gone missing across Canada over the last several
decades” (Paillard 2013), the “high number o f women who have gone missing across the
country” (Perry 2013), and the “600 cases of Aboriginal women and girls who were
murdered or remain missing” (Hale 2011). The way in which the Highway o f Tears was
framed alongside the women of Vancouver's downtown east side and the national issue of
murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls suggested that all o f these issues are
the same. There are a lot o f similarities between these issues that explain why they would
be constructed in this way. However, the discourse also revealed that homogenizing these
issues is problematic. It was seen that a number of local advocates were very adamant

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that the Highway of Tears is a separate and distinct case. For example, advocate Mavis
Erickson argued, “all of our girls are different than Pickton’s victims” (Peebles 2013c).
The stories of the Highway o f Tears are not as well known as the high profile case of
Vancouver’s downtown east side and the national epidemic of murdered and missing
Indigenous women. By conflating these two issues the deaths and disappearances of
women and girls in northern BC become marginalized (Turenne Sjolander and Smith
2012, 11). Therefore, narrators played a key role in how those that were vulnerable and in
need of protection along the Highway of Tears are framed within the discourse.
In summary, the media discourse revealed that “women”, “girls”, “Aboriginal
women”, “vulnerable travellers” and “the families of the missing women” were the most
vulnerable and in need of protection (Clark 2012a; Nielsen 2011; Northern View 2011;
Peebles 2007a; Smithers Interior News 2010). However, the discourse also revealed
competing frames of the highway itself, the timeline o f the missing women and who or
what counts as an official victim. These competing frames in the media discourse suggest
that the way in which the girls are represented and constructed can play a crucial role in
who gets protection or security. It was seen that only the women and girls that fit within
the RCMP’s definition o f the Highway of Tears counted in the official E-Pana
investigation. Finally, the discourse also linked the Highway of Tears to Vancouver's
downtown east side and the national issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women.
While this was seen as a means to bring protection by raising awareness, it was also
framed as causing vulnerability by homogenizing and marginalizing the deaths and
disappearances of women along the Highway of Tears. This revealed a tension in the
discourse between the local framing of the Highway of Tears and the national issue of

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murdered and missing Indigenous women in Canada. Many narrators such as advocate,
Mavis Erickson, framed the Highway of Tears as a local issue that is separate and distinct
from the national discourse because it is plaguing northern communities and targeting
First Nations women (Peebles 2013c). Who or what was framed as vulnerable and in
need of protection was heavily dependent on who was narrating. The discourse revealed
that narrators not only located security and insecurity in different ways, they also framed
the Highway of Tears in different ways. The common narrators of security and how they
framed security and insecurity will be discussed in more detail in the next section.
5.5 - Narrators of Security: Locating Security and Insecurity in the Discourse

My final research sub-question was: How and where do narrators (family,
community, government, RCMP, etc.) name or locate evidence or experiences o f security
and insecurity? As noted throughout this chapter, a number o f different narrators were
identified in the discourse. These included family members of the missing and murdered
women of the Highway of Tears, local advocates, First Nations communities, social
service agencies, NGOs, members of the government and the RCMP. Each o f the
narrators within these groups framed security and insecurity differently. This revealed
that each narrator had different assumptions about what it means to be secure and
insecure. It was also seen that there were shared understandings o f security within the
discourse. This will be discussed in more detail throughout this section.
The purpose of this section is to answer my last research sub-question by “reading
security” in the media discourse of the Highway of Tears (Stem 2005, 55). In order to do
this, I have divided this section into four parts. First, I will identify common narrators

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from the families of the missing and murdered women and girls of the Highway of Tears
and how they locate security and insecurity. Second, I will identify common narrators
from advocacy groups, First Nations communities and NGOs and describe how they
framed security and insecurity. Third, I will summarize how different narrators from the
RCMP have identified security and insecurity in the discourse. And finally, I will
describe how narrators from the government framed security.
Family Members of the Missing and Murdered Women and Girls
The family members of the missing and murdered women and girls of the
Highway of Tears were one of the most common narrators within the media discourse
and played an active role advocating for security and actively pursuing safety and
protection. While each individual narrator located security and insecurity differently,
there were common themes identified within the language used by the family members.
Families tended to locate security as closure, healing, answers, awareness and
accountability. Insecurity then was framed with words like violence and victim.
Gladys Radek, the aunt of Tamara Chipman and co-founder of Walk4Justice,
often framed security as achieving justice and changing the system. She states, “We are
walking for justice, closure, equality, accountability, and our voices being heard”
(Thomas 2011). She also said, “There is a dire need to address the discriminatory, racist
practices that have taken place involving police, the politicians, the judicial system and
societal acceptance of horrendous crimes against humanity” (ibid). Radek locates security
as closure, justice and accountability. Insecurity is embedded in discrimination and
racism and is caused by a broken system (Peebles 2008b; Thomas 2011). For Radek,

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safety and protection is about creating a legacy for missing loved ones and continuing to
advocate for the security o f Indigenous women and youth (Peebles 2008b).
Matilda Wilson, the mother of Ramona Wilson, and Brenda Wilson, Ramona’s
older sister, located security and insecurity in a number of ways. Both women often
spoke about the RCMP investigations and working together to prevent this tragedy from
happening to anyone else. In one article Matilda Wilson said, “All the people see their
pictures, they don't know about their lives, they were a daughter to someone, loved by
their families” (Schierir 2010). Later, Brenda Wilson stated, “They are almost all young
girls...and they weren't doing anything that justified what has happened to them”
{Smithers Interior News 2010). For the Wilson family when the women and girls are
framed as victims it is problematic. Security, then, is about reminding the public that
these women are more than just faces on the wall. The Wilson family also spoke of their
experience with the RCMP. At times they were supportive o f the RCMP’s efforts to solve
the cases of the Highway of Tears. However, they were also quite critical of the role of
the police in Ramona’s case. As Matilda Wilson states, “I don't think the RCMP know
how they have traumatized us over and over again each time they come tell us there is
nothing new in the case” (Peebles 2006a). For the Wilson family security is located as
closure and this is achieved through getting answers about what happened to their loved
one, Ramona Wilson.
Like the Wilson family, Sally Gibson, the aunt of Lana Derrick, was also critical
of the role of the RCMP. She stated, “Everybody tells us, ‘just be patient, just wait’.
Everybody is faithfully waiting and we don’t even know what we’re waiting for
anymore” (Prince George Citizen 2013b). She also said, “It just doesn't seem like

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anything is being done. We’re being told that there is stuff being done but we don't see it,
like its not here. Where is something being done?” {Prince George Citizen 2013b).
Gibson locates security as accountability and receiving answers from the police. For
Lucy Glaim, the sister of Delphine Nikal and cousin of Cecilia Nikal, security is also
about receiving answers from the RCMP. In the discourse Glaim often spoke about the
importance of maintaining dialogue with the police (Peebles 2006e). The RCMP was
seen as bringing safety and protection. However, these narrators are critical about how
much is truly being done to solve the cases o f the Highway of Tears.
Jack Hoar, the father o f Nicole Hoar, recognized that his experience was much
different than the other families. He stated, “We were fortunate that our daughter
surrounded herself with hundreds of tree planting friends and they, and hundreds more at
large, undertook a search. I felt so sad hearing of the families that were ignored. That is
unacceptable” (Peebles 2006a). Hoar suggests that his experience is one of privilege,
possibly because of his race, and locates security as support. Protection in this view is
achieved through the support o f the public to search for Nicole Hoar. This is consistent
with public statements Jack Hoar has made in the past, including his testimony at the
Missing Women Commission of Inquiry Pre-Hearing Conference in 2011 (Missing
Women Commission of Inquiry 2012, 24).
It was evident that each family had different experiences of security and
insecurity. As has been seen, Jack Hoar had a much different experience o f security and
insecurity because of how the public and the police treated the investigation of his
daughter. This supports the claims that many of the families and advocates have made
concerning race and discrimination in the case of the Highway o f Tears (Schierir 2010;

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Smithers Interior News 2010; Thomas 2011). Families of the Aboriginal women and girls
most often located security as closure, healing and accountability. Protection was seen as
being provided by the RCMP, however the families had different expectations and
experiences with the police. The many ways the families located security and insecurity
suggest that these concepts are deeply personal and can vary based on individual
experiences.
Local Advocates, Communities and NGOs
There were a number o f narrators within the discourse that played an active role
in advocacy and raising awareness about injustice along the Highway of Tears. A number
o f local advocates, social service agencies, First Nations communities and NGOs played
a large role in narrating security and insecurity in the media discourse of the Highway of
Tears. While each advocate located security and insecurity differently, there were
common themes identified within the language used by the narrators that revealed a
shared understanding of security. Advocates most often located security as justice,
awareness, answers, protection and prevention. Insecurity was framed as a First Nations
issue caused by factors such as race, gender, socio-economic issues and geography.
Advocates were most concerned with raising awareness, holding the police and the
government accountable and pursuing protection through safe transportation and a
national public inquiry into the high numbers of missing and murdered women and girls
in northern British Columbia (Nielsen 2013b; Peebles 2006f; 2013b; 2013c).
Mavis Erickson, a prominent Aboriginal lawyer and the former Highway of Tears
coordinator, was a common narrator in the media discourse. Erickson located security as

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justice and accountability. She argued that the women and girls are more than victims.
She stated, “We want our women found, and we want the so-called justice system in
Canada to start treating our women as human beings” (Peebles 2013c). Erickson
identified insecurity as being caused by a flawed system and called for a greater response
from the police. She said, “All of our girls are different than Pickton’s victims. They are
spread out over time and place, there are many, many perpetrators, and they keep
perpetrating because there is no meaningful response from the police and nothing from
the courts” (ibid). Erickson also frames the security and insecurity o f the Highway of
Tears as being specific to the north. She says, “What I find frustrating is there is a huge
gap in the north, regarding safety and security for [our youth’s] own well-being,
compared to what youth in the lower mainland get” (Peebles 2010b). For Erickson,
insecurity is the result of lack of services in northern BC, particularly within First Nations
communities. In this case, protection and security is about supporting and protecting
youth and preventing further tragedy.
Terry Teegee, the chief of the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council, was one of the many
First Nations leaders that were part o f the discourse. Teegee located security and
insecurity as primarily a First Nations issue. He was active in advocating for the inclusion
of First Nations communities in any decisions being made about safety and protection
along the Highway of Tears (Peebles 2013b). He framed protection through the language
of prevention. In the media discourse he stated, “It has come to the point where our
Aboriginal relationship with the federal and provincial government has come into
question...in many ways, the way you judge a society is how it treats its most vulnerable
citizens” (Peebles 2013b). Similarly Teegee stated, “We've been a part of this whole

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discussion and we've been advocating for safe transportation within our communities,
within our traditional territories” (Nielsen 2013b). And finally, “the violence and risk
experienced by Aboriginal women, especially women like Ramona Wilson was an end
product of racist public policy and racial societal acceptance that still goes on today”
(Peebles 2011). Teegee locates insecurity as being an Aboriginal issue that is perpetuated
by racism in Canadian society. Although he frames protection as being provided by the
government, he suggests that First Nations communities should be consulted in this
process.
Similarly, Mary Teegee, the Director of Child and Family Services at Carrier
Sekani Family Services, also locates security and insecurity as not only a First Nations
issue but also a woman’s issue. She states, “we are dealing with the safety o f our people”
(Peebles 2006f). She specifically locates insecurity within broader issues such as poverty,
poor healthcare, education and neglect. Teegee suggests that by fixing these issues,
security can be achieved. She states,
I think curing poverty is everyone’s goal. BC has the highest rates of poverty. We
all understand this is an issue, that neglect is an issue, that healthcare and
education are issues, as are affordable housing and mental health and addiction
services. So many factors play a role in why, ultimately, women are
victimized (Peebles 2009b).
Teegee sees protection coming in the form o f a public inquiry and better police
investigations (Peebles 2009b). She says, “hundreds o f women have been murdered or
are missing in this province and little has been done to address and stop violence against
women, especially Aboriginal women” (Peebles 2009b). And, “we’re hoping there will
be more public scrutiny of the whole investigation, we’re hoping there is public
involvement and there is a more diligent effort by the RCMP to solve the rest o f the

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cases” (ibid). Ultimately, Mary Teegee frames security as accountability from the police
and the prevention o f further violence that targets Aboriginal women and girls.

Finally, advocacy organizations and NGOs such as the Native Women's
Association o f Canada (NWAC) and Human Rights Watch played a key role in narrating
security and insecurity in the discourse. The Native Women's Association of Canada saw
protection as a national public inquiry. They also framed security and insecurity as an
Aboriginal issue. Beverly Jacobs of NWAC stated, “What we want is a national inquiry
into the issue. We also need to see resources put into communities to address the issue o f
violence against Aboriginal women - and for the police to take this very seriously”
(Canadian Press 2006). She goes on to say, “All of the victims were Aboriginal except
for one. We are told by the RCMP that there are no connections, but it is quite obvious to
us that there is” (ibid). Similarly, Human Rights Watch located security as accountability
from both the government and the police. Advocate Meghan Rhoad states,
“Accountability is a necessity for the safe future of Indigenous women and girls across
Canada” (Peebles 2013c). Advocacy organizations like Human Rights Watch often
located security and insecurity along the Highway of Tears within the national issue of
missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada.
The discourse revealed that despite some shared understandings of security and
insecurity, advocates had different ideas of how to achieve protection and security.
Advocacy organizations and NGOs often located security within the broader national
issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. Local advocates framed
security and insecurity as being specific to the north. Although local advocates
recognized that this was a national issue they also argued that the Highway of Tears was

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separate and distinct from other incidents o f missing and murdered Indigenous women
such as those o f Vancouver’s downtown east side. Language like “our women” and “our
communities” was used frequently to separate the missing and murdered women along
the Highway of Tears from the large number of missing and murdered women across
Canada (Peebles 2013c). There are obvious connections between the Highway of Tears,
Vancouver’s downtown east side and the national issue of missing and murdered
Indigenous women across Canada. However, the implications of conflating these issues
are that the deaths and disappearances of women in the north will become homogenized
and marginalized (Turenne Sjolander and Smith 2012,11).
The Police
The RCMP was a common narrator in the text of the Highway of Tears. Although
a number of different representatives of the RCMP were present in the discourse, the
RCMP represented a consistent approach to security and insecurity. The police generally
located security as something that was tangible and achievable. Security was achieved
through active investigations and constant support from the general public. For example,
RCMP deputy commissioner, Craig Collins, stated, “Often historical cases are referred to
as cold cases. But to the RCMP there is no such thing as a cold case. Our investigators
approach every case as an active investigation” (James 2012a). Sergeant Pierre Lemaitre
also stated, “each one of these cases has remained open over the years and have
undergone extensive investigation in the past and have undergone periodic reviews.
Investigations from the E-Division major crime section include geographic and criminal
profilers and a violent crime linkage analysis system” (Trick 2007). In this case,

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protection and safety are framed as solving the cases of the missing and murdered women
and girls on the E-Pana list.
As noted earlier in this chapter, the discourse revealed that for the RCMP power
often impacted how security was framed and understood. As constable Cheryl Bush
stated, “the matter is solely in the hands of the E-Pana Team” (Koopmans 2010).
Furthermore, senior spokesperson, John Ward, stated, “W e’re certainly not telling people
we don’t want their help - that's not the case at all - but to be helpful it has to be done in a
certain way” (Bender 2008b). This ownership over the investigations suggests that the
RCMP hold some level o f power over how security is defined and understood in the case
of the Highway of Tears. Not only are the RCMP framed as being the holders of this
power, other narrators framed the RCMP as being obligated to provide security and
protection.
The discourse suggested that the RCMP were playing a very active role in
protection and security. However, from the perspective o f the families and advocates it
was seen that this was not the case. This tension in how security and insecurity are
defined and located reveals that there are different assumptions of security and insecurity
in the case of the Highway of Tears.
The Government
As noted earlier in this chapter, the government has played an important role in
the media discourse o f the Highway of Tears. The government includes narrators at the
municipal, provincial and federal levels. Within each of these levels there are different
perspectives of security. It was seen that most government officials framed security as

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improving services, infrastructure, policy and spending. Insecurity in this view was seen
as a lack of services, infrastructure, policy and proper funding.
Local Members o f the BC Legislative Assembly (MLAs) often challenged the
provincial government for not doing enough. Gary Coons, MLA for the North Coast,
states that “not enough has been done to properly address the problem o f disappearing
women” and that “even when a serious attempt is made to try to do something, the
government drops the ball” (Hale 2011). Local MLAs often suggested means by which
security could be achieved. Stikine MLA, Doug Donaldson, framed protection as, “a two
pronged approach on public transportation and resources for the investigations are needed
to address people's concerns” and “public education is also key. I think it's important to
focus on changing men's behavior” (Orr 2011). In this view, security and protection are
located as resources and policies to protect communities and prevent further tragedies.
The New Democratic Party (NDP) o f British Columbia was one o f the most
common advocates for security at the provincial level. The NDP called upon the
government for more funding, services and support for the communities o f the north. For
example, provincial NDP leader Adrian Dix stated, “this is a crucial issue. It's been
identified for 8 years...the government hasn't acted on it and this bafflegab is so
disrespectful considering the seriousness o f the issue” (James 2014). The NDP party
often located safety and protection as safe and affordable transportation along Highway
16 and were active in the call for a national public inquiry (ibid).
Former Solicitor General and Justice Minister of British Columbia, John Les, was
a common narrator in the discourse. Because of his portfolio, Les framed protection as

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being brought by the police. Les said, “I think it’s generally understood that the police are
doing their best” and “a targeted police team will help ensure we have the resources and
tools to find out what’s happened to these women so that justice is done and communities
can heal” (Peebles 2006a). Security then, was located as something that was tangible and
achievable through tools and resources. And protection was framed as being provided by
the police. From this perspective, security was located as a fluid and on-going process.
Finally, the federal government, mainly Prime Minister Stephen Harper, framed
security as taking action but denied the need for a public inquiry. He stated, “I tend to
remain skeptical o f commissions of inquiry...my experience has been they almost always
run way over time, way over budget and often the recommendations prove to be of
limited utility” (Pedwell and Nielsen 2013). However, he did state, “it’s time to pass to
action” (ibid). The federal government’s approach to security suggests that action needs
to be taken, but what exactly that action looks like was not found in the discourse.
The government located security much differently than many o f the other
narrators in the discourse of the Highway of Tears. As has been seen, protection and
security were framed as services, policies, resources and tools. However, there was also
varying opinions and perspectives on who should bring protection and what exactly
security should look like. It was seen that each narrator located security differently
depending on his or her political ideology and relationship to the state.
In this section I have identified some o f the most notable narrators in the media
discourse of the Highway of Tears. It was seen that each individual narrator had different
assumptions about what security and insecurity means in the context of the Highway of

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Tears. However, shared understandings of security were also present in the discourse.
Family members o f the missing and murdered women o f the Highway o f Tears located
security as closure, healing, answers, awareness and accountability. Words like violence
and victim blaming were seen to be a source of insecurity. For the family members
protection was often about creating a legacy for their loved ones by preventing further
tragedies. Local advocates located security and insecurity as being specific to the
communities of northern BC. First Nations community leaders framed the Highway of
Tears as being primarily a First Nations issue. Advocates from national and international
organizations located security and insecurity as being a part of the broader national issue
of missing and murdered Indigenous women. The police were seen as the central actor
meant to bring protection. The RCMP took on a more traditional approach to security
often locating security through on-going and active investigations. Protection was framed
as solving the cases of the Highway of Tears. Finally, narrators within the government
most often located security as improved services, infrastructure, policies, tools and
resources. Protection was most often seen as coming from the RCMP. However, many
government officials agreed that more action needed to be taken. The discourse revealed
that there were shared understandings of security and insecurity among many of the
narrators. This uncovered a tension in the discourse between traditional approaches to
security and critical, feminist and Indigenous approaches to security. This finding will be
discussed in more detail in the final chapter o f this thesis.
5.6 - Conclusion
In this chapter I summarized the findings of my critical discourse analysis. The
central objective of this chapter was to answer my research sub-questions. I did this in

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four ways. First, I identified common themes in the language used to describe security
and insecurity in the context of the Highway of Tears. In this section I also reflected on
the factors that contributed to insecurity in the discourse. Second, I summarized the
framing of protection and safety in the discourse of the Highway o f Tears. Third, I
explored who was identified as vulnerable and in need of protection. And finally, I listed
and evaluated the narrators of security and how they located security and insecurity in the
case of the Highway of Tears.
My critical discourse analysis revealed a number o f interesting findings about
how the concepts of security and insecurity are represented in the media discourse of the
Highway of Tears. Different words and frames were used to describe security and
insecurity throughout the discourse. My analysis revealed that insecurity was often
framed as being caused by a number of different factors including race, gender, socio­
economic issues and geographical location. Additionally, it was seen that layers and
relationships of power influenced who was framed as bringing protection and how safety
and protection were conceptualized. The discourse also revealed competing frames of the
Highway o f Tears. My analysis suggested that only certain women and girls were
considered vulnerable and in need of protection in the case o f the Highway o f Tears. And
finally, it was seen that each narrator in the discourse had a different assumption about
what it means to be secure and insecure. These assumptions revealed that there were
shared understandings o f security in the case of the Highway of Tears. I will expand
upon each of these findings and conclude this thesis in the chapter that follows

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CHAPTER 6: ANALYSIS & CONCLUSION

6.1 - Introduction
Drawing on the work of feminist scholar, Maria Stem, this work explored how the
concepts o f security and insecurity were represented in select media discourse of the
Highway o f Tears. By conducting critical discourse analysis, this thesis finds that each
narrator framed security and insecurity differently in the media discourse. Despite
different individual assumptions of security, there was also evidence of shared
understandings of security within the text. There were two broad shared understandings
of security present in the discourse that uncovered a tension between traditional
approaches to security and critical approaches to security. These will be discussed in
more detail throughout this chapter.
The purpose of this chapter is to summarize the main findings of this thesis and to
reflect on the broader contributions of this research. Ultimately, I will ask: so what, who
cares, and why does this research matter? As I answer these questions I discuss the
practical and theoretical value of this research and suggest areas of further exploration.
This chapter is divided into two parts. First, I discuss and analyze the key findings of this
research. In this discussion I will link the key findings to my literature review. Second, I
discuss the broader contributions of this thesis. I intend to do this in three ways. First, I
discuss the contributions this work has made to the field o f International Relations.
Second, I reflect on how this work has contributed to field of feminist security studies.
And finally, I explore how this research has contributed to the on-going advocacy and
activism for missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada. I conclude this chapter

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by reflecting upon why it is important to study the media representations of security and
insecurity in the case of the Highway of Tears.

6.2 - Reflections and Conclusions
In this thesis, I drew on feminist approaches to security and International
Relations to study the Highway of Tears as a site o f security and insecurity. By bringing
together elements of feminist security studies and drawing on the work of Maria Stem, it
was seen that representations o f security and insecurity were shaped and influenced by
varying assumptions about what it means to be secure and insecure. Shared
understandings of security were also present in the discourse. In this section I will answer
the question, so what? In order to do this I discuss the key findings of this research and
locate these findings within the literature of feminist security studies and International
Relations.
My exploration of how the concepts of security and insecurity were represented in
the discourse revealed that a number o f factors contributed to insecurity in the case of the
Highway o f Tears. These factors disclosed that insecurity is closely related to identity. In
her research, Maria Stem found that there was a close relationship between the concepts
of security and identity. In particular, she recognized that a number of factors contribute
to security and insecurity and that these factors are closely related to markers o f identity
(Stem 2005, 73). In my analysis, it was seen that gender, race, socio-economic issues and
geography all contributed to the vulnerability of the missing and murdered women and
girls in northern BC. Insecurity was most often constructed as an intersection o f race and
gender and was framed as Aboriginal issue and targeted violence was connected to

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simply “being an Aboriginal woman” (Scoffield 2011). Therefore, in the case of the
Highway of Tears it was seen that security and identity were closely related. In feminist
research, identity is also closely related to intersectionality. Feminist scholars study
intersections of race, gender and class as a means to challenge disciplinary boundaries
(D'Costa 2006; Tickner 2006; Wibben 2011). In this view there are multiple markers of
identity that inform women’s experiences of security and insecurity. Similarly, this thesis
found that there were multiple markers of identity within the media discourse of the
Highway of Tears. This revealed that by including identity in our understanding of
security we can begin to rethink the concept and practice of security in International
Relations (Stem 2005, 190).
Norms of identity are often created through the decision o f who or what is
included and excluded in the discourse and practice of security (Stem 2005, 7). This
research found that the women and girls associated with the Highway of Tears were often
framed differently throughout the media discourse, as a result only some women and girls
were included in the practice o f security while others were excluded. It was seen that
those who were considered to be vulnerable were often framed as “vulnerable persons”,
“young women”, “female hitchhikers”, “Aboriginal women and girls”, “girls - not just
grown women” and the “women and their families” (Clark 2012a; Nielsen 2011;
Northern View 2011; Peebles 2007a; Smithers Interior News 2010). These words were
most often associated with the “Highway of Tears cases” or the “ 18 women missing and
murdered along BC highways” (Clark 2012a; James 2012). Within the media discourse I
found that who counted as an “official victim” in the Highway of Tears investigations
often varied (Culbert and Hall 2009). It was seen that there are 18 women included on the

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RCMP's official list of missing and murdered women (Culbert 2009), but research by
advocacy groups suggest that the number of missing and murdered women and girls in
northern BC actually ranges between 18 and 35 (Culbert and Hall 2009). The inclusion of
some women and girls over others suggests that only certain women count in the official
investigation of the Highway of Tears and in turn qualify for security, safety and
protection (Turenne Sjolander and Smith 2012,14-15). Furthermore, my analysis of
discursive practices revealed that the media often played a role in framing security and
insecurity in the Highway of Tears.
It was seen that journalists often reinforced and perpetuated insecurity in the
discursive practices o f the media discourse. In this way, norms o f identity were created
through who was included in the discourse. Discursive practices are concerned with what
beliefs, messages and ideologies news producers are encoding in their text in order to
shape the beliefs and understandings of their readers (Richardson 2007,41). In the
discourse, journalists and news producers were seen to perpetuate and reinforce the
concepts of security and insecurity in the case of the Highway of Tears (Nielsen 2009;
2011; Peebles 2007c; 2008; Scoffield 2011; Trick 2006d). This was most notable in how
the women and girls o f the Highway of Tears were framed in the discourse. As noted
earlier, the women and girls of the Highway of Tears were often framed differently and
this was seen to have a direct impact on who qualified for security. Journalists most often
framed the women as “victims” and associated them with high-risk activities such as
hitchhiking and drug use implicitly blaming the victims in the discourse (Nielsen 2011).
Furthermore, the headlines of the newspaper articles revealed that the only woman listed
by name in the news headlines was Nicole Hoar and her family (Nielsen 2009; Peebles

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2007c; Peebles 2008). Any other time one of the women or girls were mentioned in the
headlines it was under generic terms like “teen’s murder” (Trick 2006d) or “native
woman” (Stanfield 2008). Similarly, if an article focused on the family members o f the
missing girls the article would frame them as the mother of a missing woman (Bailey
2005; Peebles 2007b). Only the Hoar family was mentioned specifically by name
(Peebles 2008). This finding revealed that the media discourse played a part in
“producing and re-producing social inequalities” in the text o f the Highway o f Tears
(Richardson 2007, 26). The way in which Nicole Hoar was framed separately from the
rest of the women and girls of the Highway of Tears is an example of how certain lives
and deaths mean more than others (Butler 2004; Turenne-Sjolander and Smith 2012).
Furthermore, the memorialization of the missing women along the Highway of Tears
suggest that even in their death, certain lives have more value than others (Butler 2004;
McNiell 2008). This finding is also consistent with the literature that explores
representations of Indigenous women in the media and suggests that the media often fails
Indigenous women and their families (Chief Elk 2014; Mckenzie 2010). The way in
which the women were framed differently is also consistent with the work of feminist IR
scholar, Cynthia Enloe, who reminds us “the personal is international” (Enloe 1990, 196).
This statement suggests that, “ideas about what it means to be a ‘respectable’ woman or a
‘honorable’ man have been shaped by colonizing policies, trading strategies and military
doctrines” (ibid). In the case of the Highway of Tears those who were framed as
vulnerable and in need of protection are shaped by the media discourse and this
perpetuates gendered colonial violence because it devalues the lives and deaths of
Indigenous women.

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The media discourse of the Highway of Tears revealed that relationships and
experiences of power often influence how security and insecurity are located and
conceptualized (Stem 2005, 32). It was seen that the police played a role in determining
who counted in the official investigation of the Highway of Tears and how the
investigations were carried out (Koopmans 2010). This placed the police in a position of
power over the missing and murdered women and their families. As a result, many o f the
families of the missing and murdered women and girls felt that the police were obligated
to bring protection, safety and security (Peebles 2006a). However, the police were also
criticized for not bringing enough protection to women and girls in northern BC (ibid).
Regardless, the police were adamant that they were working tirelessly on solving the
cases o f the Highway o f Tears (James 2014; Koopmans 2010). The government, namely
the provincial and federal governments, also reinforced their power in the media
discourse. While the government recognized that they were doing what they could to
provide security and protection and that the police were working towards finding
answers, they also used their power to determine what protection and security should
look like (James 2014; Pedwell and Nielsen 2013). Despite calls from advocates for
specific support in the north, the government felt security should be pursued in different
ways (Pedwell and Nielsen 2013). The power exuded by the police and the government
in the case of the Highway of Tears revealed that security and insecurity are
conceptualized differently depending on who holds power. This also revealed that the
police and government took a more traditional approach to security in the context of the
Highway of Tears.

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The literature on security and identity also revealed that shared experiences of
security are nearly impossible. Individuals will have their own idea of what it means to be
secure. Consequently, the concept of security is fluid, malleable and cannot be universal.
The assumption that groups o f people will experience security in the same way becomes
problematic when one individual’s experience o f security is given more credibility and in
turn more power over another person's experience (Stem 2005, 7). In the media discourse
of the Highway o f Tears, this was seen to be true in the case of Nicole Hoar and how she
and her family were represented differently in the media when compared to the First
Nations women on the Highway o f Tears list (Peebles 2007c; Peebles 2008). As well, the
police and government were given more credibility and more power over the experiences
of security o f the missing and murdered women along the Highway of Tears and their
families (James 2014; Koopmans 2010; Pedwell and Nielsen 2013). How the women
were grouped together and framed within the media discourse suggested that each o f the
women on the Highway of Tears list and their families had the same experience of
security and insecurity. However, it was seen that individuals would define security based
on their own set of assumptions about what it means to be secure and insecure (Stem
2005; 2006; Jacoby 2006).
Furthermore, by assuming that individuals from the same cultural or societal
groups share the same experiences of security we run the risk of homogenizing
experiences of security and insecurity (Stem 2005, 7). This type of homogenization was
seen throughout the discourse. However, in analyzing the discourse I found it was
difficult not to group the women and girls of the Highway o f Tears as well as the
narrators of security based on common experiences. It is important to recognize that

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while it was seen that individual experience played a major role in how security and
insecurity were conceptualized, there was evidence o f shared understandings of security
and insecurity in the text. While each narrator had different assumptions about what it
means to be secure and insecure, I found that a broad shared understanding of the
concepts security and insecurity were evident in the case of the Highway of Tears.

The discourse uncovered two broad shared understandings of security within the
media discourse of the Highway of Tears. The first shared understanding of security is
drawn from the families, communities and advocates assumptions o f security and
insecurity. These narrators often located security as “closure”, “healing”, “advocacy” and
“accountability” from the police and government (Hale 2011, Peebles 2009a; 2010a;
Thomas 2011). Insecurity was framed as experiences of “violence” and “victim blaming”
(Blanchfield 2013; Smithers Interior News 2010; Thomas 2011). Based on these shared
understandings, security can be defined as something that is wholistic, connected, human
or humane, historically contextualized and based around family and maintaining
relationships. This definition o f security is consistent with critical and feminist
approaches to security because it challenges conventional ideas about what it means to be
secure and insecure (Buzan and Hansen 2009; Mutimer 2010; Wibben 2011). This
definition of security does not include the state and its borders, instead it emphasises the
needs of individuals, families and communities in everyday practice (Buzan and Hansen
2009; Stem 2005; Tickner 1992). Furthermore, this definition of security is consistent
with Indigenous ways of knowing which seek to decolonize Western scholarship (Denzin
and Lincoln 2008, 2). As has been seen, the story of the Highway of Tears is a result of
on-going colonial practices that have perpetuated targeted gendered violence towards

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First Nations women in northern BC (De Leeuw 2007, 341). Therefore, for the families,
communities and advocates achieving security is about resisting the state’s definition of
security and decolonizing the case of the Highway of Tears.
The second shared understanding of security is drawn from the police and the
government. The police and government understood security from a traditional or realist
perspective. The government framed security as improving services, infrastructure,
policies and spending (Orr 2011; Peebles 2006a). While insecurity was framed as lack of
services, infrastructure, policy and funding (Hale 2011; Orr 2011; Peebles 2006a).
Similarly, the RCMP often located security as something that was tangible and
achievable. Security then was achieved through active investigations and constant
support from the general public (James 2012a; Trick 2007). Based on these shared
understandings, security can be defined as something that is homogenized, sterile, and
compartmentalized. It often involves tangible outcomes including policy and procedures.
However, this definition of security is not historically situated, it is colonial and it often
perpetuates victim blaming. This definition of security is consistent with traditional or
realist approaches to security which emphasize the importance of the state in enforcing
security policies and procedures (Buzan and Hansen 2009; Walt 1991). Furthermore,
traditional approaches to security draw on realist assumptions o f International Relations
that emphasize the importance of power in striving for and achieving security. From the
perspective of critical and feminist IR scholars this definition o f security fails to address
the needs of individuals (Buzan and Hansen 2009; Enloe 1990; 2004). For Indigenous
scholars like Linda Tuhiwai Smith (1999) and Marie Battiste (2000) this definition
perpetuates the colonial practices o f the state.

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The two broad shared understandings of security that emerged from the discourse
represent different ways of interpreting the world. However, they also reveal a tension
between how security should be practiced in the case of the Highway o f Tears. As has
been seen, this is the exact same tension that exists within the field of International
Relations and security studies. While each approach to security has its strengths and
weaknesses, multiple meanings of security help us to understand how the concepts of
security and insecurity affect the everyday lived experiences o f people who face the real
issues of International Relations (Sylvester 1996; Wibben 2011). In the case of the
Highway of Tears, the tension between these two understandings o f security has resulted
in little to no protection for First Nations women and girls living in northern British
Columbia for the past thirty years. The violence that has occurred along the Highway of
Tears is entrenched in Canada’s colonial history, which has historically devalued the
lives of Indigenous women (Amnesty International 2009; Peach and Ladner 2010). The
residential school experience and its legacy also play a major role in the vulnerability of
Indigenous women and girls in northern BC (Peach and Ladner 2010; Human Rights
Watch 2013; McKenzie 2010). As a result, insecurity along the Highway of Tears has
perpetuated colonial practices and experiences of gendered colonial violence. Therefore,
in order to achieve security the government and the police must be attentive to the needs
o f the families, communities and advocates when considering what protection and safety
might look like. As well, the case o f the Highway o f Tears must be decolonized.
Ultimately, this thesis has revealed that there are multiple understandings of
security and insecurity in the case of the Highway of Tears. These multiple
understandings cause us to rethink the concepts of security and insecurity and how they

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can be achieved. This thesis finds that each narrator framed and located security and
insecurity differently within the media discourse. Despite different assumptions of
security, there was also evidence of shared understandings of security within the text.
These shared understandings revealed a tension in the discourse between traditional ideas
of security and critical, feminist and Indigenous approaches to security and insecurity.

In this section I have answered the question “so what?” by summarizing the key
findings o f this thesis embedded within the literature of feminist security studies and
International Relations. In the section that follows I will answer the question “who
cares?” by expanding on these findings and discussing how this research has contributed
to the fields o f International Relations, feminist security studies and the literature around
missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada.
6.3 - Contributions
One of the objectives o f this thesis is to frame the Highway o f Tears as an issue o f
security and insecurity within the context of International Relations. While it was
recognized in the media discourse that the Highway of Tears has often represented a site
o f insecurity, this research explored the Highway of Tears as a site of security and
insecurity within the field of International Relations. Based on this, this research
contributed to the field of International Relations and the literature of feminist security
studies. This work also contributed to the literature written by advocacy groups on the
issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in northern BC and across
Canada.

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In this section I answer the question, “who cares?” by reflecting on the
contributions this thesis has made to the academy as well as advocacy movements. I
intend to do this in three ways. First, I discuss the contributions this research has made to
the field of International Relations. Second, I reflect upon the contributions this work has
made to the field o f feminist security studies and feminist International Relations. And
finally, I summarize how my research has contributed to the advocacy for missing and
murdered Indigenous women and girls across Canada.

This thesis contributed to the field of International Relations by challenging
traditional conceptions of security. My work challenged these assumptions in two ways.
First, by framing the Highway of Tears as a site of security within the context of IR this
research disrupted the logic o f traditional security studies that assumes security is about
the state and its borders (Walt 1991, 212). Instead, my research focused on a local site o f
security and evaluated the stories of individuals and communities as presented by the
news media in order to create an alternative narrative of security and insecurity. Second,
by creating an alternative narrative of security, this thesis exposes some of the limitations
of traditional approaches to security. Traditional security scholars have a tendency to
view the concept of security narrowly in terms of survival of the state (Stem 2006; Walt
1991). By concentrating on the state and military strategic issues, scholars of traditional
security fail to address the needs of individuals within the state, structural violence
perpetuated by the state itself, and the relationship between gender and security (Buzan
and Hansen 2009, 209). However, my findings suggest that experiences o f security and
insecurity are deeply personal and should not be confined to the dividing lines of realist
approaches to security. Therefore, by evaluating the relationship between security and

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insecurity this research suggests that the concept and practice o f security should be re­
conceptualized in the field o f International Relations (Stem 2005,190).
Feminist approaches to security and International Relations served as the
theoretical and methodological foundations of this research. By drawing on these
approaches, this thesis has contributed to the field of feminist security studies and
International Relations in two ways. First, it contributes to a growing body of literature
that studies security in unconventional sites (D'Costa 2006; Jacoby 2006; Stem 2005;
2006). The Highway of Tears is a site that has been rendered invisible by dominant
security policies and academic practices (Enloe 1990; 2004). By framing the Highway of
Tears as a site of security within the context of IR, this research sought to bring the
Highway of Tears to centre of the discipline. In doing so, this research challenged state
centered conceptions of security by revealing an alternative narrative of security.
Second, this research contributes to a broader methodological discussion related
to how we, as feminist scholars, conduct research in unconventional sites. As noted
throughout this thesis, when I chose the Highway o f Tears as my case study I ran into
several challenges that caused me to change my research design several times. The most
notable of these challenges was the fact that I was studying an issue that is primarily,
although not always, an Indigenous issue. The challenge I faced was how to conduct
research that was respectful and culturally safe. While feminist research ethic provided a
means to address power and authority in research it did not provide me with the tools to
address colonization and Indigineity in the academy. The problem with conducting
feminist research in unconventional sites is that researchers tend to engage with women
and communities in such a way that they can begin to take on the political struggle of the

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groups they are meant to tell the story o f (Tickner 2006, 29). This becomes problematic
when we consider the critiques of feminist IR from post-colonial and Indigenous
scholars. The problem with taking on these political struggles is that scholars run the risk
of homogenizing the experiences o f women in their research (Mohanty 1984, 333-335).
While I struggled with this critique throughout my research journey, in this thesis I have
incorporated each deliberative moment that caused me to pause and address my
positionality as a researcher. It is my hope that these candid moments of reflection will
contribute to feminist ways of conducting research in IR and security studies particularly
related to themes o f Indigineity and marginalized spaces.
Finally, this research contributes to advocacy movements that address the issue o f
murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls across Canada. This thesis contributes
to these movements in two ways. First, this research contributes to a growing body o f
literature written by advocates and allies that examine the media representations of
missing Indigenous women and girls (McKenzie 2010; Chief Elk 2014). As Lauren M.
Madison recently stated, “Indigenous women go missing twice: once in real life and a
second time in the media” (Chief Elk 2014). When Indigenous women and girls
disappear, their cases receive limited media attention and their identities are often erased
in the discourse (ibid). After conducting critical discourse analysis of select newspapers
from northern BC, its clear that this experience is very true in the context of the Highway
o f Tears and the numerous missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in
northern BC. The media discourse revealed that the newspapers often framed Indigenous
women differently than Nicole Hoar, the only known Caucasian woman associated with
the Highway of Tears. Therefore, it was seen that the media, journalists and news

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producers played a role in reinforcing and perpetuating elements o f insecurity. Second,
this research contributes to advocacy movements across Canada that seeks to protect
Indigenous women and girls. In the past few years, the high number o f missing and
murdered Indigenous women across Canada has sparked a number of advocacy groups
and organizations to advocate against gendered colonial violence and call for a national
public inquiry into the now 1,181 missing and murdered Indigenous women across
Canada (RCMP 2014, 3). These advocacy groups have published a number of reports on
the subject. My research supports investigations done by groups like Human Rights
Watch (2013). My findings suggest that the police and the government simply have not
done enough to protect Indigenous women and girls. Furthermore, this thesis found that
experiences o f security and insecurity are deeply personal and depend on multiple
markers of identity including race, culture, geographical location and socio-economic
issues. These findings are consistent with work done by Amnesty International (2004;
2009) which argue that these factors have consistently contributed to the high number of
missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada. Ultimately, this research
has supported the findings o f advocacy groups and reinforces their claims that a national
public inquiry should be conducted into the national epidemic of missing and murdered
Indigenous women and girls. However, my findings also recommended that the Highway
o f Tears should be recognized as an issue that is specific to northern British Columbia.
The many contributions o f this thesis reveal that the importance of this research
extends beyond the disciplinary boundaries of International Relations. While this
research contributes to the field of feminist security studies and feminist approaches to
research in IR. Its most important contribution is to the on-going advocacy and activism

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for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls across Canada. The importance of
this research will be discussed further in the concluding section of this chapter.

6.4 - Conclusion
In this chapter I have summarized my key findings and embedded them within the
literature o f feminist security studies and International Relations. I have also reflected on
the contributions this research has made to the field o f International Relations, the
literature o f feminist security studies and the research ethic o f feminist IR. I also
discussed how this work has contributed to the on-going activism and advocacy for
missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in northern BC and across Canada.
Beyond the broader contributions of this work, it is also important to ask the question:
why does this research matter? I will conclude this chapter by reflecting on this question
and explaining how this research matters in a real life context.
The contributions of this work suggest that this research matters to the field of
International Relations and feminist security studies. These contributions imply that the
theoretical and methodological findings of this thesis are important for feminist scholars
conducting research in unconventional sites o f International Relations. While these
contributions are important from an academic perspective, the true importance o f this
research stretches far beyond the disciplinary boundaries of International Relations.
As noted in the first chapter of this thesis, this research began as primarily an
academic pursuit. However, when I began to dig deeper into the story of the Highway of
Tears and the history o f gendered colonial violence in Canada this research became more
than just an academic piece. At its heart this research is about activism and advocating for

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social change. As a result I intend to share this research with the communities o f northern
BC, the families of the Highway of Tears and with the advocates who have worked so
tirelessly to bring justice to this issue. It is my hope that this research will not end at the
final sentence of this thesis. My research journey is on-going and filled with unfinished
business, part o f which will involve sharing this knowledge with the communities. This
will be the next step in my research process.
Since I began my research journey over two years ago, the number o f missing and
murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada has changed three times, now totalling
a shocking 1,181 women (RCMP 2014, 3). The national epidemic o f murdered and
missing Indigenous women and girls has also become more widely known in households
across Canada. This has occurred as a result o f the successful Idle No More movement
that began in 2012 and the high profile coverage of young Inuk woman, Loretta
Saunders, who went missing and was found murdered in February 2014 (Humphreys
2014). Thanks to the hard work o f advocates in northern British Columbia, the story of
the Highway o f Tears has also permeated into mainstream media and political
conversations at both the provincial, national and international level. Despite the
heightened profile of the issue, the government and RCMP’s response to the disturbing
phenomenon of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls has not changed in
the past two years since this research began. And my analysis revealed that this response
has not changed in the past decade in the case o f the Highway o f Tears (Peebles 2006a).
This research uncovered two broad shared understandings o f security in the media
discourse. The police and the government have taken on a more traditional approach to
security that emphasizes the use of tangible resources, proper funding, active

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investigations and demonstrable outcomes. The families, communities and advocates
represent a more critical and Indigenous approach to security that is wholistic, humane,
connected and family based. The tension between these two approaches is evident in the
history of the Highway o f Tears. As a result moving forward with safe transportation
initiatives and properly managed public inquiries has been very difficult. In order to
move forward and stop this tragedy from re-occurring, we need to find a way to build
bridges between all o f the actors involved in the Highway of Tears case. Most
importantly, the police and government must check their entitlement and power at the
door, as this has been one of the biggest barriers to real change in northern BC. If an
inquiry is going to be successful, if a safe public transit system is going to be sustainable,
it must be a grassroots movement led by the families, communities and advocates and
supported by the RCMP and the government. In order for meaningful change to occur it
must come from the community level, it cannot be a top down approach. It must be
culturally safe and recognize that the Highway of Tears is a multi-dimensional issue
entrenched in gendered colonial violence, poverty and structural issues that stretch far
beyond the statistics, policies and procedures used by the government and the RCMP.
Change has to be about decolonizing the Highway of Tears and protecting women and
girls in northern BC. We must all ask ourselves: how do we decolonize this issue and
how do we move forward?

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Ackerly, Brooke A. and Jacquie True. 2010. Doing Feminist Research in Political and
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Ackerly, Brooke A., Maria Stem and Jacquie True. 2006. “Feminist Methodologies for
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APPENDICES
Appendix A - Textual Analysis Template
Section 1: General Information
la. Newspaper (Publisher):_____________________
lb. Date Published:___________________________
lc. Location:_________________________________
Id. Title of Content:___________________________

le. Brief Outline (Who? What? When? W here?):___

Section 2; Key Words and Identifiers of Security
2a. What words are used to describe security in the article?

2b.What words are used to describe insecurity in the article?

Section 3: Safety and Protection
3a. Who or what is identified as bringing safety/protection?

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3b. Who or what is identified as vulnerable and needs protection?

3c.What words are used to describe protection?

Section 4: Narrators of Security
4a. Who is the narrator(s) identified in the article?

4b. Where do the narrators locate evidence of security? What words do they use?

Section 5: Latent Content
5a. Notes/Latent Content

131