Photo: The Canadian Press

Gladys Radek raised a fist in the air and wept as she reached the end of her 350-kilometre journey along B.C.'s Highway of Tears.

The Indigenous grandmother finished her walk along the notorious stretch of Highway 16 for the seventh and final time on Monday. It is the same highway where her niece Tamara Lynn Chipman disappeared.

Outside a community centre in Smithers, her voice shook as she spoke to those who had walked alongside her, including commissioners from the national inquiry into missing and murdered women.

"I want to thank you all for standing so proud and loud, to show our commissioners that we have love for our missing and murdered women," she said through tears.

"I'm very proud of this moment right now because when Tamara went missing, nobody cared. When Tamara went missing, there were many others who were already missing, many others who had been murdered."

Dozens of women have disappeared or been killed along the highway between Prince Rupert and Prince George.

Radek and other family members and advocates left Prince Rupert on Thursday and arrived Monday in Smithers, where the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls is holding hearings this week.

During the final stretch through the town of Smithers, Radek, drove a car covered in photographs of women who have disappeared or been killed. She wept behind the wheel as passersby waved and honked their horns.

More than 40 people have signed up to speak at the Smithers hearings, which run through Thursday.