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Tim Gruenke, thanks very
much.

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>> Thank you.
>> Indigenous advocates

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want the state to provide
better tracking of victims

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and a special office inside
the Capitol to address

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missing and murdered
indigenous people, both on

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and off the reservations.
Here and now. And I see t

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reporter Erica Ayisi
traveled to Menominee

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Nation hearing one family's
story of tragedy and why

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they were saying her name
at this week's Missing and

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Murdered Indigenous Women's
Rally in Madison.

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>> She was so cool, down to
earth, kind, loving.

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>> Rachel Fernandez is
holding a picture of her

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late sister in law, Linda
Amy Dickinson. She was a

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day care worker who gave
nicknames to her

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preschoolers.
and she loved the children.

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>> Fernandez remembers her
as a patient listener,

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committed to family.
>> She treated my kids like

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her own, you know? And she
just had that caring

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personality.
>> Dickinson and Fernandez,

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both of the Menominee
Indian Tribe, spent time

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together as friends and
family on the rural

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reservation north of green
Bay.

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>> She always had me
cracking up. She always had

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a joke. She's very witty.
>> Dickinson eventually

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relocated from the
reservation to green Bay

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with her new partner.
Fernandez says Dickinson's

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life with him was private,
but the impact of their ten

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year relationship was
public.

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>> She would show up to
work with with Black eyes.

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>> Where did she say she
got these Black eyes from?

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>> From him. From him. And
she would. She wouldn't

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really talk about it.
>> According to Fernandez,

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when Dickinson didn't show
up for work at the daycare

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on the morning of February
24th, 2014, her colleagues

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requested a police welfare
check to her home, finding

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the unthinkable by the door.
>> She was shot through her

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left cheek in the corner.
Told them that she had died

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in seconds.
>> Her partner was found

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dead in the bedroom.
>> He shot himself. So it

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was a murder suicide.
>> Leaving Dickinson's

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three children, Vanessa,
Kenny and Warren,

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motherless.
>> It's tragic all around

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because he has kids, too.
>> Fernandez says news of

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the double tragedy spread
quickly throughout the

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tight knit Menominee
community.

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reservation. They're both
tribal members.

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>> She says many indigenous
people follow a code of

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silence in violence and
abuse stemming from

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historical trauma during
the federal Indian boarding

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school era.
>> Because our children

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were taken from their homes
and they were taught in

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these boarding schools not
to talk about what happened

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to them.
>> Fernandez says she's

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also a victim of abuse and
trafficking, but she's been

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able to work through her
challenges and support

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other indigenous people
through intergenerational

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suffering.
>> I'm okay to accept

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forgiveness of myself and
so that really birthed the

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activist and the advocate
in me.

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>> This empty lot behind me
is where Linda Amy

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Dickinson lived here in
Neopit on the Menominee

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Reservation with her
children before moving to

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green Bay. She lived in a
trailer that's gone now,

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but Fernandez says her
memory is alive forever,

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and she will say her name.
At the Missing and murdered

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Indigenous Women's Rally at
the Capitol in Madison.

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>> Linda Amy Dickinson.
>> Fernandez, says the Wrap

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the Capitol Red rally is
about breaking the code of

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silence within indigenous
communities.

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>> You know who was
involved in someone being

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missing? You know, why
aren't you saying anything?

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>> Relatives of victims of
homicide shared their loved

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ones names.
>> I want to speak today on

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behalf of my cousin J.C.
Vijoo, who succumbed to

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domestic violence.
>> Bad River Ojibwe,

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Wisconsin. Angeline
Whitebird Sweet murdered

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February 1989. Susan
Poupart Lac du Flambeau

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murder, 1992. Children
unsolved.

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>> Mentioning family
members who never came home.

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>> Charlene Couture Bad
River missing 2009.

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>> Including indigenous men.
>> Levon Frank Lac du

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Flambeau 1997.
>> Braxton Lee Phillips say

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his name.
>> And a plea for more

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justice.
>> My lawmakers here. Are

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you listening?
>> Attorney general Josh

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Kaul says the missing and
murdered. Task force

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recommends a permanent
office inside the Capitol

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and a report indicating
tribal data tracking.

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>> That, unfortunately, was
not included in the last

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state budget. But hopefully
we'll see some progress on

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these ideas once the report
is out.

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>> He says the state is
investing in violence

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prevention and
collaborative efforts

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between tribal, state and
federal law enforcement to

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effectively respond to
incidents. More than 100

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advocates, survivors and
families held hands to wrap

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the Capitol red.
>> No more stolen sisters.

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No more stolen brothers. No
more violence.

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>> In solidarity that their
testimonies will be heard.

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>> We demand justice for
our relatives. For those

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that cannot speak.
>> Reporting from Madison.

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I'm Eric Ayisi for Here and
I'm Eric Ayisi for Here and