The family members of Indigenous women and girls who have gone missing or been murdered along the Highway of Tears in northern B.C. cried and held hands as a monument created in their honour was unveiled at Cottonwood Island Park in Prince George Friday morning.

Called the Pillar of Hope, the monument commemorates the string of disappearances and murders of Indigenous women and girls along the 720-kilometre stretch of Highway 16 between Prince George and Prince Rupert dating back to the 1960s.

“It’s a bittersweet moment,” said Mary Teegee, executive director of Carrier Sekani Family Services, which led the project.