The stench of death

[Judi Lynn]

On Canada's Highway of Tears.

By Brandi Morin
Published On 8 Nov 2021

In this six-part series, Al Jazeera tells the stories of some of the Indigenous women and girls who have gone missing or been murdered along an infamous stretch of highway in British Columbia, Canada.

Warning: The following article contains content that may be disturbing to some readers.

British Columbia, Canada - Mike Balczer pensively traces the rim of a white coffee cup on a frigid February morning. He takes a ponderous breath and looks up. His hair is covered by a black and white bandana and a cap. His trademark attire - black leather and black and white flannel - bear the markings that distinguish him as a nomad - a Crazy Indian Brotherhood nomad.

The Crazy Indian Brotherhood started in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 2007 and now has chapters throughout Canada and to the south as far as California and Oklahoma. It resembles a motorcycle gang, but Mike says the tough image is just for appearances. “We protect women and children around here. We patrol the streets looking out for the vulnerable.” And the uniform helps to intimidate the town’s drug dealers, he adds. But it is not only the local drug dealers who are on Mike’s mind. He is on the prowl - looking for a killer, or possibly killers, in Smithers.

The small town in northwestern British Columbia has a population of just over 5,300 people. It is home to the remnants of settler frontiers and Indigenous nations in a valley between towering snow-capped mountains, curtained by rows of lodgepole pine, spruce, sub-alpine balsam fir, aspen, birch and cottonwood trees.

Although a confessed wanderer, Mike has called Smithers home on and off for the past 20 years. He is a member of the Wit’Dat Nation (Lake Babine Nation) about a two-hour drive east and as a hereditary chief is part of a traditional governance system responsible for decision-making and cultural practices. When he became a leader his elders gave him the name “Person of Many”.

More:
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/longform/2021/11/8/the-stench-of-death-life-along-canadas-highway-of-tears

[MuseRider]

1. Long but important.

Thanks for this. I want to read it after I finish my work today. Bookmarking in case I lose the link. Thank you.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Thank you for deciding to check it out. The inhuman crimes against them have gone unchecked so long.

I hope to read all six parts. The subject has been completely swept under the rug from the first.

Racism, hatred of women, have all been all playing out without slowing down, with wild abandon, while the "civilized" sector looks the other way.

Thank you, Muse Rider.

[underpants]

2. Okay I was surprised to see this is in Canada

I don’t know why that would surprise me.

Marked to read later.

[MuseRider]

5. I was too

and I don't know why.

[Judi Lynn]

6. You might recall there was an Alaskan DU'er who posted info. on this same genocide in Alaska,

and that was well over a decade ago. It had been going on in Alaska with absolutely no effort being made by the local cops there, either.

You might recall him if I could remember his name. He was a disc jockey in Anchorage, I believe, and, although from California, he was married to an Alaskan and living there permanently.

Canada has had a blood curdling history of lacking any respect toward the First Americans, but US citizens seem to know nothing about that, either. Our racist history has covered for the Canadian government, too.

[Bev54]

3. I lived in BC throughout this tragedy

They think there is not just one killer. The highways are desolate in that area of the province. Myself, I think they should have been looking at long haul truck drivers.

[Judi Lynn]

7. Beautiful place to live, Bev54! I have heard that idea you've mentioned. What will it take?

Thank you.

[Bev54]

8. I don't know, the problem being most of these

Missing women were never properly investigated because the police didn’t give a shit. It is over a number of years and a very sad situation and we wonder why indigenous people don’t trust police or government.

[niyad]

9. and the WAR ON WOMEN continues apace. Would you consider cross-posting this in

Women's Rights And Issues? Thanks in advance.

I am glad to see that steps are being taken to protect the Indigenus women and girls.

[Judi Lynn]

10. Just added it there, niyad. Thank you for your interest. Sure hope time will bring what's missing.

There's no excuse for the monstrous lack of concern by "society" these hundreds of years.

[MustLoveBeagles]

11. Bookmarked for later

Thanks for posting