Tim Gruenke, thanks very much.
>> Thank you. >> Indigenous advocates
want the state to provide better tracking of victims
and a special office inside the Capitol to address
missing and murdered indigenous people, both on
and off the reservations. Here and now. And I see t
reporter Erica Ayisi traveled to Menominee
Nation hearing one family's story of tragedy and why
they were saying her name at this week's Missing and
Murdered Indigenous Women's Rally in Madison.
>> She was so cool, down to earth, kind, loving.
>> Rachel Fernandez is holding a picture of her
late sister in law, Linda Amy Dickinson. She was a
day care worker who gave nicknames to her
preschoolers. and she loved the children.
>> Fernandez remembers her as a patient listener,
committed to family. >> She treated my kids like
her own, you know? And she just had that caring
personality. >> Dickinson and Fernandez,
both of the Menominee Indian Tribe, spent time
together as friends and family on the rural
reservation north of green Bay.
>> She always had me cracking up. She always had
a joke. She's very witty. >> Dickinson eventually
relocated from the reservation to green Bay
with her new partner. Fernandez says Dickinson's
life with him was private, but the impact of their ten
year relationship was public.
>> She would show up to work with with Black eyes.
>> Where did she say she got these Black eyes from?
>> From him. From him. And she would. She wouldn't
really talk about it. >> According to Fernandez,
when Dickinson didn't show up for work at the daycare
on the morning of February 24th, 2014, her colleagues
requested a police welfare check to her home, finding
the unthinkable by the door. >> She was shot through her
left cheek in the corner. Told them that she had died
in seconds. >> Her partner was found
dead in the bedroom. >> He shot himself. So it
was a murder suicide. >> Leaving Dickinson's
three children, Vanessa, Kenny and Warren,
motherless. >> It's tragic all around
because he has kids, too. >> Fernandez says news of
the double tragedy spread quickly throughout the
tight knit Menominee community.
reservation. They're both tribal members.
>> She says many indigenous people follow a code of
silence in violence and abuse stemming from
historical trauma during the federal Indian boarding
school era. >> Because our children
were taken from their homes and they were taught in
these boarding schools not to talk about what happened
to them. >> Fernandez says she's
also a victim of abuse and trafficking, but she's been
able to work through her challenges and support
other indigenous people through intergenerational
suffering. >> I'm okay to accept
forgiveness of myself and so that really birthed the
activist and the advocate in me.
>> This empty lot behind me is where Linda Amy
Dickinson lived here in Neopit on the Menominee
Reservation with her children before moving to
green Bay. She lived in a trailer that's gone now,
but Fernandez says her memory is alive forever,
and she will say her name. At the Missing and murdered
Indigenous Women's Rally at the Capitol in Madison.
>> Linda Amy Dickinson. >> Fernandez, says the Wrap
the Capitol Red rally is about breaking the code of
silence within indigenous communities.
>> You know who was involved in someone being
missing? You know, why aren't you saying anything?
>> Relatives of victims of homicide shared their loved
ones names. >> I want to speak today on
behalf of my cousin J.C. Vijoo, who succumbed to
domestic violence. >> Bad River Ojibwe,
Wisconsin. Angeline Whitebird Sweet murdered
February 1989. Susan Poupart Lac du Flambeau
murder, 1992. Children unsolved.
>> Mentioning family members who never came home.
>> Charlene Couture Bad River missing 2009.
>> Including indigenous men. >> Levon Frank Lac du
Flambeau 1997. >> Braxton Lee Phillips say
his name. >> And a plea for more
justice. >> My lawmakers here. Are
you listening? >> Attorney general Josh
Kaul says the missing and murdered. Task force
recommends a permanent office inside the Capitol
and a report indicating tribal data tracking.
>> That, unfortunately, was not included in the last
state budget. But hopefully we'll see some progress on
these ideas once the report is out.
>> He says the state is investing in violence
prevention and collaborative efforts
between tribal, state and federal law enforcement to
effectively respond to incidents. More than 100
advocates, survivors and families held hands to wrap
the Capitol red. >> No more stolen sisters.
No more stolen brothers. No more violence.
>> In solidarity that their testimonies will be heard.
>> We demand justice for our relatives. For those
that cannot speak. >> Reporting from Madison.
I'm Eric Ayisi for Here and I'm Eric Ayisi for Here and