Listen free for 30 days
-
Highway of Tears
- A True Story of Racism, Indifference and the Pursuit of Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
- Narrated by: Emily Nixon
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $49.13
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Buy it with
-
They Called Me Number One
- Secrets and Survival at an Indian Residential School
- Written by: Bev Sellars
- Narrated by: Bev Sellars
- Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Like thousands of Aboriginal children in the United States, Canada, and elsewhere in the colonized world, Xatsu'll chief Bev Sellars spent part of her childhood as a student in a church-run residential school. These institutions endeavored to "civilize" Native children through Christian teachings; forced separation from family, language, and culture; and strict discipline. In this frank and poignant memoir of her years at St. Joseph's Mission, Sellars breaks her silence about the residential school's lasting effects on her and her family and eloquently articulates her own path to healing.
-
-
Thank You!
- By Julia on 2019-02-23
Written by: Bev Sellars
-
21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act
- Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a Reality
- Written by: Bob Joseph
- Narrated by: Sage Isaac
- Length: 3 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Based on a viral article, 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act is the essential guide to understanding the legal document and its repercussion on generations of Indigenous peoples, written by a leading cultural sensitivity trainer. The Indian Act, after 141 years, continues to shape, control, and constrain the lives and opportunities of Indigenous peoples, and is at the root of many lasting stereotypes.
-
-
Essentially Canadian - Must Read.
- By Marcel Molin on 2019-08-23
Written by: Bob Joseph
-
Unreconciled
- Family, Truth, and Indigenous Resistance
- Written by: Jesse Wente
- Narrated by: Jesse Wente
- Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Part memoir and part manifesto, Unreconciled is a stirring call to arms to put truth over the flawed concept of reconciliation, and to build a new, respectful relationship between the nation of Canada and Indigenous peoples.
-
-
Brilliant Must Listen/Read for all Canadians
- By Cass on 2022-02-04
Written by: Jesse Wente
-
Red River Girl
- The Life and Death of Tina Fontaine
- Written by: Joanna Jolly
- Narrated by: Penelope Rawlins
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On August 17, 2014, the body of 15-year old runaway Tina Fontaine was found in Winnipeg's Red River. It was wrapped in material and weighted down with rocks. Red River Girl is a gripping account of that murder investigation and the unusual police detective who pursued the killer with every legal means at his disposal. The audiobook, like the movie Spotlight, chronicles the behind-the-scenes stages of a lengthy and meticulously planned investigation. It reveals characters and social tensions that bring vivid life to a story that made national headlines.
-
-
Hard to Hear but Important
- By Trillium25 on 2020-07-14
Written by: Joanna Jolly
-
The Inconvenient Indian
- A Curious Account of Native People in North America
- Written by: Thomas King
- Narrated by: Lorne Cardinal
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Inconvenient Indian is at once a “history” and the complete subversion of a history - in short, a critical and personal meditation that the remarkable Thomas King has conducted over the past 50 years about what it means to be “Indian” in North America. Rich with dark and light, pain and magic, this book distills the insights gleaned from that meditation, weaving the curiously circular tale of the relationship between non-Natives and Natives in the centuries since the two first encountered each other.
-
-
Angry, embarrassed, disgusted, horrified, nauseous, scared and so so sad, but hopeful and now informed.
- By Shantelle Lamouche on 2021-01-18
Written by: Thomas King
-
A Mind Spread Out on the Ground
- Written by: Alicia Elliott
- Narrated by: Alicia Elliott
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In an urgent and visceral work that asks essential questions about the treatment of Native people in North America while drawing on intimate details of her own life and experience with intergenerational trauma, Alicia Elliott offers indispensable insight into the ongoing legacy of colonialism. She engages with such wide-ranging topics as race, parenthood, love, mental illness, poverty, sexual assault, gentrifcation, writing, and representation.
-
-
Profoundly vulnerable and robustly analytical
- By Anonymous User on 2019-04-07
Written by: Alicia Elliott
-
They Called Me Number One
- Secrets and Survival at an Indian Residential School
- Written by: Bev Sellars
- Narrated by: Bev Sellars
- Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Like thousands of Aboriginal children in the United States, Canada, and elsewhere in the colonized world, Xatsu'll chief Bev Sellars spent part of her childhood as a student in a church-run residential school. These institutions endeavored to "civilize" Native children through Christian teachings; forced separation from family, language, and culture; and strict discipline. In this frank and poignant memoir of her years at St. Joseph's Mission, Sellars breaks her silence about the residential school's lasting effects on her and her family and eloquently articulates her own path to healing.
-
-
Thank You!
- By Julia on 2019-02-23
Written by: Bev Sellars
-
21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act
- Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a Reality
- Written by: Bob Joseph
- Narrated by: Sage Isaac
- Length: 3 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Based on a viral article, 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act is the essential guide to understanding the legal document and its repercussion on generations of Indigenous peoples, written by a leading cultural sensitivity trainer. The Indian Act, after 141 years, continues to shape, control, and constrain the lives and opportunities of Indigenous peoples, and is at the root of many lasting stereotypes.
-
-
Essentially Canadian - Must Read.
- By Marcel Molin on 2019-08-23
Written by: Bob Joseph
-
Unreconciled
- Family, Truth, and Indigenous Resistance
- Written by: Jesse Wente
- Narrated by: Jesse Wente
- Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Part memoir and part manifesto, Unreconciled is a stirring call to arms to put truth over the flawed concept of reconciliation, and to build a new, respectful relationship between the nation of Canada and Indigenous peoples.
-
-
Brilliant Must Listen/Read for all Canadians
- By Cass on 2022-02-04
Written by: Jesse Wente
-
Red River Girl
- The Life and Death of Tina Fontaine
- Written by: Joanna Jolly
- Narrated by: Penelope Rawlins
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On August 17, 2014, the body of 15-year old runaway Tina Fontaine was found in Winnipeg's Red River. It was wrapped in material and weighted down with rocks. Red River Girl is a gripping account of that murder investigation and the unusual police detective who pursued the killer with every legal means at his disposal. The audiobook, like the movie Spotlight, chronicles the behind-the-scenes stages of a lengthy and meticulously planned investigation. It reveals characters and social tensions that bring vivid life to a story that made national headlines.
-
-
Hard to Hear but Important
- By Trillium25 on 2020-07-14
Written by: Joanna Jolly
-
The Inconvenient Indian
- A Curious Account of Native People in North America
- Written by: Thomas King
- Narrated by: Lorne Cardinal
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Inconvenient Indian is at once a “history” and the complete subversion of a history - in short, a critical and personal meditation that the remarkable Thomas King has conducted over the past 50 years about what it means to be “Indian” in North America. Rich with dark and light, pain and magic, this book distills the insights gleaned from that meditation, weaving the curiously circular tale of the relationship between non-Natives and Natives in the centuries since the two first encountered each other.
-
-
Angry, embarrassed, disgusted, horrified, nauseous, scared and so so sad, but hopeful and now informed.
- By Shantelle Lamouche on 2021-01-18
Written by: Thomas King
-
A Mind Spread Out on the Ground
- Written by: Alicia Elliott
- Narrated by: Alicia Elliott
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In an urgent and visceral work that asks essential questions about the treatment of Native people in North America while drawing on intimate details of her own life and experience with intergenerational trauma, Alicia Elliott offers indispensable insight into the ongoing legacy of colonialism. She engages with such wide-ranging topics as race, parenthood, love, mental illness, poverty, sexual assault, gentrifcation, writing, and representation.
-
-
Profoundly vulnerable and robustly analytical
- By Anonymous User on 2019-04-07
Written by: Alicia Elliott
-
Out of the Shadows
- A Memoir
- Written by: Timea Nagy, Shannon Moroney
- Narrated by: A.J. Bridel
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Timea Nagy was 20 years old when she answered a newspaper ad in Budapest, Hungary, calling for young women to work as babysitters and housekeepers in Canada. Hired by what seemed like a legitimate recruitment agency, Timea left her home believing she would earn good money to send back to her family. What she didn't know was that she'd been lured by a ring of international human traffickers - and her life would never again be the same.
-
-
Times Nagy is a hero!
- By Julia on 2020-07-06
Written by: Timea Nagy, and others
-
On the Farm
- Robert William Pickton and the Tragic Story of Vancouver's Missing Women
- Written by: Stevie Cameron
- Narrated by: Erin Moon
- Length: 25 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Verteran investigative journalist Stevie Cameron first began following the story of missing women in 1998, when the odd newspaper piece appeared chronicling the disappearances of drug-addicted sex trade workers from Vancouver's notorious Downtown Eastside. It was not until February 2002 that pig farmer Robert William Pickton would be arrested, and 2008 before he was found guilty, on six counts of second-degree murder. These counts were appealed and in 2010, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered its conclusion.
-
-
Narration is bad. “You know, Like really bad ‘eh”
- By k on 2022-08-24
Written by: Stevie Cameron
-
Seven Fallen Feathers
- Written by: Tanya Talaga
- Narrated by: Michaela Washburn
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1966, 12-year-old Chanie Wenjack froze to death on the railway tracks after running away from residential school. An inquest was called, and four recommendations were made to prevent another tragedy. None of those recommendations were applied. More than a quarter of a century later, from 2000 to 2011, seven Indigenous high school students died in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The seven were hundreds of miles away from their families, forced to leave home and live in a foreign and unwelcoming city.
-
-
Essential reading for Canadians
- By Blayne Beacham on 2018-09-13
Written by: Tanya Talaga
-
Five Little Indians
- A Novel
- Written by: Michelle Good
- Narrated by: Kyla Garcia
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Taken from their families when they are very small and sent to a remote, church-run residential school, Kenny, Lucy, Clara, Howie and Maisie are barely out of childhood when they are finally released after years of detention. Alone and without any skills, support or families, the teens find their way to the seedy and foreign world of Downtown Eastside Vancouver, where they cling together, striving to find a place of safety and belonging in a world that doesn’t want them.
-
-
Poor narration,mediocre plot
- By Alan Scheer on 2020-09-16
Written by: Michelle Good
-
The Skin We're In
- A Year of Black Resistance and Power
- Written by: Desmond Cole
- Narrated by: Desmond Cole
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Puncturing the bubble of Canadian smugness and naive assumptions of a post-racial nation, Cole chronicles just one year - 2017 - in the struggle against racism in this country. It was a year that saw calls for tighter borders when black refugees braved frigid temperatures to cross into Manitoba from the States, Indigenous land and water protectors resisting the celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday, police across the country rallying around an officer accused of murder, and more.
-
-
A must read!
- By denise on 2020-02-27
Written by: Desmond Cole
-
A Knock on the Door
- The Essential History of Residential Schools from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Edited and Abridged (Perceptions on Truth and Reconciliation, Book 1)
- Written by: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Phil Fontaine - foreword, Aimée Craft - afterword
- Narrated by: Michelle St. John
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“It can start with a knock on the door one morning. It is the local Indian agent, or the parish priest, or, perhaps, a Mounted Police officer.” So began the school experience of many Indigenous children in Canada for more than a hundred years, and so begins the history of residential schools prepared by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC).
-
-
Not an easy read, glad I did
- By me on 2021-06-29
Written by: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, and others
-
For Joshua
- An Ojibway Father Teaches His Son
- Written by: Richard Wagamese
- Narrated by: Craig Lauzon
- Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Staring the modern world in the eye, Richard Wagamese confronts its snares and perils. He sees people coveting without knowing why, looking for roots without understanding what constitutes home, searching for acceptance without extending reciprocal respect, and longing for love without knowing how to offer it. He sees this because he lived it. For Joshua is Wagamese's love letter to his estranged son. Ojibway tradition calls for fathers to walk their children through the world and teach them their place in it. To teach them they belong.
-
-
A Canadian classic
- By Krow Fischer on 2019-08-18
Written by: Richard Wagamese
-
Braiding Sweetgrass
- Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
- Written by: Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Narrated by: Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Length: 16 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a botanist and professor of plant ecology, Robin Wall Kimmerer has spent a career learning how to ask questions of nature using the tools of science. As a Potawatomi woman, she learned from elders, family, and history that the Potawatomi, as well as a majority of other cultures indigenous to this land, consider plants and animals to be our oldest teachers.
-
-
Fabulous wise, informative, inspiring, beautifully written book!
- By Carolinebp on 2019-10-01
Written by: Robin Wall Kimmerer
-
Mediocre
- The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America
- Written by: Ijeoma Oluo
- Narrated by: Ijeoma Oluo
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Through the last 150 years of American history—from the post-reconstruction South and the mythic stories of cowboys in the West, to the present-day controversy over NFL protests and the backlash against the rise of women in politics—Ijeoma Oluo exposes the devastating consequences of white male supremacy on women, people of color, and white men themselves. Mediocre investigates the real costs of this phenomenon in order to imagine a new white male identity, one free from racism and sexism.
-
-
Brilliant!
- By CDS-CAN on 2021-03-13
Written by: Ijeoma Oluo
-
A National Crime
- The Canadian Government and the Residential School System
- Written by: John S. Milloy, Mary Jane Logan McCallum - foreword
- Narrated by: Wesley French
- Length: 17 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For over 100 years, thousands of Aboriginal children passed through the Canadian residential school system. Begun in the 1870s, it was intended, in the words of government officials, to bring these children into the “circle of civilization,” the results, however, were far different. More often, the schools provided an inferior education in an atmosphere of neglect, disease, and often abuse. Using previously unreleased government documents, historian John S. Milloy provides a full picture of the history and reality of the residential school system.
Written by: John S. Milloy, and others
-
All Our Relations
- Finding the Path Forward
- Written by: Tanya Talaga
- Narrated by: Tanya Talaga
- Length: 5 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tanya Talaga, the best-selling author of Seven Fallen Feathers and the 2017-2018 Atkinson Fellow in Public Policy, calls attention to an urgent global humanitarian crisis among Indigenous Peoples - youth suicide.
-
-
A true guide to knowing more
- By Magalie on 2020-01-26
Written by: Tanya Talaga
-
"Indian" in the Cabinet
- Speaking Truth to Power
- Written by: Jody Wilson-Raybould
- Narrated by: Jody Wilson-Raybould
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jody Wilson-Raybould was raised to be a leader. Inspired by the example of her grandmother, who persevered throughout her life to keep alive the governing traditions of her people, and raised as the daughter of a hereditary chief and Indigenous leader, Wilson-Raybould always knew she would take on leadership roles and responsibilities.
-
-
Interesting but not revelatory
- By Amazon Customer on 2021-09-17
Written by: Jody Wilson-Raybould
Publisher's Summary
A searing and revelatory account of the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls of Highway 16, and an indictment of the society that failed them.
For decades, Indigenous women and girls have gone missing or been found murdered along an isolated stretch of highway in northwestern British Columbia. The highway is known as the Highway of Tears, and it has come to symbolize a national crisis.
Journalist Jessica McDiarmid meticulously investigates the devastating effect these tragedies have had on the families of the victims and their communities, and how systemic racism and indifference have created a climate where Indigenous women and girls are over-policed, yet under-protected. Through interviews with those closest to the victims - mothers and fathers, siblings and friends - McDiarmid provides an intimate, first-hand account of their loss and relentless fight for justice. Examining the historically fraught social and cultural tensions between settlers and Indigenous peoples in the region, McDiarmid links these cases to others across Canada - now estimated to number up to 4,000 - contextualizing them within a broader examination of the undervaluing of Indigenous lives in the country.
Highway of Tears is a powerful story about our ongoing failure to provide justice for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and a testament to their families and communities' unwavering determination to find it.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Editorial Review
British Columbia Highway 16, part of the Trans-Canada Highway, traverses greater Western Canada. Highway 16 also has a nickname with a dark undercarriage: The Highway of Tears. This stretch of roadway earned its tragic nickname due to the staggering number of disappearances and murders that happen to befall its travellers. What’s more, this Canadian highway has come to represent a national crisis—the callous indifference of Canadian authorities to the plight of missing or murdered Indigenous women and girls.
In Highway of Tears, Canadian journalist Jessica McDiarmid dives deeply into the pursuit of justice for missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. Through rigorous investigation and intense interviews with the families of women and girls who have gone missing or whose bodies were found, McDiarmid positions the victims at the front of the conversation. She exposes the systemic problems plaguing Indigenous people in northwestern British Columbia and throughout Canada. With this, McDiarmid can connect the crimes against Indigenous women and girls on The Highway of Tears to other murdered indigenous women across the country.
Powerfully narrated by Emily Nixon, Highway of Tears is a compelling true story of systemic racism, the lack of protection and indifference towards Indigenous people, and the courage and unwavering determination of community members who continue to speak out and seek justice for their loved ones.
More from the same
Narrator:
What listeners say about Highway of Tears
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jesaray
- 2020-12-25
Just get it. It's worth is.
As I realize now how close I came to being another name on that high. I take the time to remember the women that never for the finish there journey as I did and I thank the creater the universe and whatever lease kept me safe on the highway. This book pays tribute to these girls it's powerful and well written.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Chris B.
- 2020-12-06
A must read for Canadians
Another heart wrenching account of Canada's shameful history with racism and neglect. It's a must read to build the empathy required to heal our country from these wounds.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 2019-11-05
Heartwrenching
Canadians who question the findings of the MMIW inquiry need to read this book. It is a poignant story that is told with care and compassion. The stories are well told allowing the reader to feel connected to each family and have great sympathy.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 2020-11-15
Very good book
Eye opening book that goes far more in-depth than anything I've learnt before. this will change the average Canadians view if not entirely at least partially for the need for social change to prevent needless disturbing violence
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tina J
- 2021-06-12
A Must Read/Listen
Extremely well written and narrated, this book passionately and empathetically captures the stories of so many women and girls who were lost in BC. It unbiasedly and thoroughly identifies many of the challenges still faced today by Canada’s Indigenous communities and is excellent for anyone wanting to better understand the cultural divide and history of abuse and discrimination that people have suffered from government, RCMP, and the general public.
Heartbreakingly spectacular.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Nina S
- 2021-06-24
thank you
i so appreciate jessica mcdiarmid for documenting the family’s and women’s and girls stories… this was such an illuminating, emotional read. canada should be absolutely ashamed of the way they have treated indigenous women and people.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 2021-05-25
A must read
This book was eye opening, enlightening and heartbreaking. An important read for any Canadian. Thank you, Jessica, for writing it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 2021-05-14
A Difficult Story to Hear
A very difficult story to hear. This book opened my eyes to the plight of indigenous people, especially women and girls, in Canada. The story is well told, however, it is difficult to follow along with all the dates and names provided as they are not necessarily in chronological order. But this book has provided great insight into the systemic racism that is still intrenched in Canadian culture.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- April
- 2021-03-09
Well Researched, and Unforgettable.
I appreciated the background information, and the family stories on these girls, and women. Many times I had to stop listening, too collect myself before starting again.
A well researched look into the many ways we have failed our First Nation Sisters.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- S. K
- 2021-05-20
Important read
Narrators voice and way of speaking is appropriate for this book. Everyone, especially Canadian's, should read this.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amiesbookreviews
- 2019-10-17
An important story and one that cannot be ignored
My full review will be available on my blog at Amiesbookreviews dot WordPress dot com
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!