Here & Now

One Menominee Nation Family's Story of Tragedy and Advocacy

Frederica Freyberg:
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 & Now” and ICT 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 Womens Rally in Madison.

Rachel Fernandez:
She was just so cool, down to earth, kind, loving.

Erica Ayisi:
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.

Rachel Fernandez:
She would help anybody and she loved the children.

Erica Ayisi:
Fernandez remembers her as a patient listener committed to family.

Rachel Fernandez:
She treated my kids like her own, you know? And she just had that caring personality.

Erica Ayisi:
Dickinson and Fernandez, both of the Menominee Indian Tribe, spent time together as friends and family on the rural reservation north of Green Bay.

Rachel Fernandez:
She always had me cracking up. She always had a joke. She’s very witty.

Erica Ayisi:
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.

Rachel Fernandez:
She would show up to work with black eyes.

Erica Ayisi:
Where did she say she got these black eyes from?

Rachel Fernandez:
From him. From him. And she would — she wouldn’t really talk about it.

Erica Ayisi:
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.

Rachel Fernandez:
She was shot through her left cheek and the coroner told them that she had died in seconds.

Erica Ayisi:
Her partner was found dead in the bedroom.

Rachel Fernandez:
He shot himself. So it was a murder-suicide.

Erica Ayisi:
Leaving Dickinson’s three children – Vanessa, Kenny and Warren – motherless.

Rachel Fernandez:
It’s tragic all around because he has kids, too.

Erica Ayisi:
Fernandez says news of the double tragedy spread quickly throughout the tight knit Menominee community.

Rachel Fernandez:
They were both from the reservation. They’re both tribal members.

Erica Ayisi:
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.

Rachel Fernandez:
Because our children were taken from their homes and they were taught in these boarding schools not to talk about what happened to them.

Erica Ayisi:
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.

Rachel Fernandez:
I’m okay to accept forgiveness of myself and so that really birthed the activist and the advocate in me.

Erica Ayisi:
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 Womens Rally at the Capitol in Madison.

Rachel Fernandez:
Linda Amy Dickinson.

Erica Ayisi:
Fernandez says the Wrap the Capitol Red rally is about breaking the code of silence within Indigenous communities.

Rachel Fernandez:
You know who was involved in someone being missing. You know. Why aren’t you saying anything?

Erica Ayisi:
Relatives of victims of homicide shared their loved ones’ names.

Speaker # 1:
I want to speak today on behalf of my cousin J.C. Vigue [spelling of name unable to be verified] who succumbed to domestic violence.

Speaker # 2:
Bad River Ojibwe, Wisconsin. Angeline Whitebird-Sweet, murdered, February 1989.

Speaker # 3:
Susan Poupart, Lac du Flambeau, murder, 1990, two children, unsolved.

Erica Ayisi:
Mentioning family members who never came home.

Speaker # 4:
Charlene Couture, Bad River, missing, 2009.

Erica Ayisi:
Including Indigenous men.

Speaker # 5:
LaVonne Frank, Lac du Flambeau, 1997.

Speaker # 6:
Braxton Lee Phillips. Say his name.

Erica Ayisi:
And a plea for more justice.

Speaker # 6:
My lawmakers here – are you listening?

Erica Ayisi:
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.

Josh Kaul:
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.

Erica Ayisi:
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…

Rachel Fernandez:
No more stolen sisters. No more stolen brothers. No more violence.

Erica Ayisi:
… in solidarity that their testimonies will be heard.

Rachel Fernandez:
We demand justice for our relatives, for those that cannot speak.

Erica Ayisi:
Reporting from Madison, I’m Erica Ayisi for “Here & Now” and ICT.