May 18, 2023 • 37 mins
Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind was 8 months pregnant when she went missing in 2017. Her body was discovered days later in the Red River, but her baby had been stolen by the killers. The case was another reminder of the vulnerability of indigenous women and girls in the United States and Canada. We discuss this issue with Candi Brings Plenty, an indigenous activist and spiritual practitioner.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
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Speaker 2 (00:27):
Hello, everyone, welcome back to Facing Evil. I'm Roshia Peccurero,
and surprise, my beautiful sister is not here with us today,
but we have someone very special filling in.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Hey, everyone, Trevor Young here. I am one of the
producers of the show and I am happy to be
filling in for Evet today.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Yes, Trevor is our brother from another mother, and we're
very happy to have him here today. I am, and
I know Yvette wishes she is here, but she is
on a much needed vacation in Italia, like she likes
to call it in Italy. But the show must go on,
So just for today, Trevor's agreed to co host with
(01:08):
me for event. So mahallo, Trevor, Yeah, thank you so much.
And today we are going to be revisiting a very
important issue that we tackled back in September when we
did a case about Tina Fontaine. And if you remember Tina,
she was a young Indigenous girl who went missing and
(01:30):
was sadly later found dead in Canada.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Right, So, I think that case made evidence a much
like bigger, major crisis that's going on not just in
this country, but across North America, and as we'll explain
in this interview today, really across the globe. And that
issue is that Indigenous women and girls are at incredibly
high risk violence, kidnapping, sex trafficking, and often homicide, and truthfully,
(01:58):
they're not getting the proper attention they need from either
the media or law enforcement. And this is something we've
been hearing about quite a bit regularly, especially if you
listen to Up and Vanished season three, which spent the
whole season on that very issue.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Yes, and I honestly didn't know a whole lot about
what was happening until I listened to Up and Vanished.
And today, you know, we are going to be talking
about a heartbreaking case of a young Indigenous girl named
Savannah Lafontaine Graywind. And this was horrific in the fact
(02:32):
that Savannah was a pregnant Indigenous woman she was killed
in North Dakota in twenty seventeen and joining us today
to talk about Savannah and really the bigger issue at
large is a personal friend of mine. Candy brings plenty,
and Candy is an Indigenous activist and spiritual practitioner. And
(02:53):
Candy is such an incredible human that I am looking
forward to speaking to and I'm looking for to everyone
listening to her. But first, Trevor is going to take
us through today's case.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Today, the gray Wind family learned the gruesome details behind
their loved ones murder. I hope no one else in
this community, in the United States and the world ever
has to under the payment I do that do gray
Ones have to?
Speaker 1 (03:22):
I learned of how my daughter was murdered and how
my granddaughter was taken from her. Savannah Lafontaine gray Wind
was a twenty two year old woman who was murdered
in August of twenty seventeen in Fargo, North Dakota. Her
body had been discovered wrapped in plastic against the banks
of the Red River. Savannah was an Indigenous woman and
(03:45):
a member of the Spirit Lake Sioux tribe. She was
also eight months pregnant at the time of her murder.
Just a year earlier, Savannah had moved to Fargo to
start a new job as a nursing assistant. She and
her boyfriend, Ashton Matheni, got an apartment and were expecting
their first child in September of twenty seventeen. On August nineteenth,
(04:05):
Savannah visited her parents before stopping in to visit her
upstairs neighbors, Brooke Cruz and William Hayne. That was the
last time anyone saw Savannah alive. According to other tenants
in the building. Loud banging sounds erupted from the apartment
of Cruise in Haine, but no one thought anything of it.
Savannah never returned home or respond to text recalls from
(04:29):
her family. Police searched Savannah's apartment as well as the
apartment of Cruise in Hayne, but they didn't find anything.
A search began, and many believed the authorities were slow
to respond because Savannah was Indigenous. Then days later, police
learned from Haynes's co workers that he had a new
baby in the apartment. The authorities then obtained a search
(04:52):
warrant and raided the apartment. There, they discovered the infant
baby of Savannah Lafontaine gray Wind and then on August
twenty seventh, eight days after she went missing, Kayakers discovered
Savannah's body in the Red River, wrapped in plastic and
duct tape. Hain would later say he came home on
August nineteenth to find blood all over the apartment. He
(05:15):
discovered that Brooke Cruz had lured Savannah there to trap
her and take her unborn baby. While Savannah was alive,
she cut the baby from her womb. Hain then helped
Cruise dispose of Savannah's body. Cruse had apparently wanted the
baby for herself because she was under pressure from Hain
to conceive a child. After they took the baby, they
(05:36):
hid Savannah's body in a dresser, which the police failed
to find on their initial investigation. Brook Cruise pleaded guilty
and was sentenced to life without parole. William Hayne was
also sentenced to life in prison for conspiring to kidnap
a baby and helping to dispose of a body. The
child survives and her name is Hazley Joe. She lives
(05:59):
with her father, Austin Matheni, who has full custody. This
case points to a troubling epidemic of missing and murdered
Indigenous people across North America. In twenty twenty, a new
law called Savannah's Act was passed to improve the resources
available to support and investigate these types of missing persons cases.
(06:19):
And So who was Savannah Lafontaine Graywynd, what led to
her troubling murder? And how does this case reveal a
need to address a crisis impacting Indigenous communities across the globe.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
So I am incredibly pleased to welcome to the show
a friend of mine, Candy brings plenty and Candy is
a two spirit Oglala La Cora su An activists and
spiritual practitioner. Candy Ekomo may welcome to Facing Evil.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
You say, thank you so much for having me and
also for being so progressive and a tentative to the
need of this topic. It's something that's extremely, uh, you know,
more than just an activist or a platform. It's it's
within my blood lineage. It's part of traditional protocol as
(07:23):
the Oglala Lakota Sioux and someone you know, an Indigenous
person to Turtle Island. You know this is you know,
missing and murdered Indigenous women is such an epidemic candy.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
That is so so so true, and you know full
disclosure to our facing evil listeners. I have the pleasure
of knowing you in real life when you spent your
time in the Portland area. You were supportive of me
and my wife when we owned Dapperdee and we got
to help and fundraise together and do all kinds of
fun things. And I've always respected you and admired all
(07:58):
of the work that you've been doing and continue to do.
So I know so much about you, but I would
love before we start, you know, talking about the case
that we want to talk about today, and of course
the bigger issue. I would love to know more about you,
where you come from, where you grew up, and of
course your beautiful culture and your family and all the
(08:20):
things if you could share with us.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
Yeah. So I come from the Piner's' Reservation. It's also
known or initially before it got the name Piner's Reservation,
it's known as the Prisoner of War Camp number three
three four, and you can google that, and every single
Indian reservation in the United States and beyond are prisoner
(08:42):
of war camps. So I have ten siblings, you know,
and all of them still reside and have grown up,
born and raised on the prisoner of war camp, including
you know, that's where my father was born and passed away.
And so there's a lot of tribal nations and tribal
people who have been born and raised and still living
(09:04):
in the conditions of these prisoner of war camps, and
which is extreme poverty, and all of it is definitely
still defined and restricted under the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
I truly feel that a lot of folks who are
not indigenous to Turtle Island, you know, they definitely have
(09:26):
a huge learning gap when it comes to a cultural
perspective or an indigenous lens. There's definitely like the law
of nature, and then there's you know, mad made laws,
and then there's the law of the land. And so
one of the huge aspects that a lot of non
indigenous folks have a hard time comprehending is that as
(09:50):
indigenous people, and I'm going to speak specifically la Quota,
as a Loquota person, we belong to the land. The
land does not belong to us. And so in every
aspect that's why the water, the trees, the air, the moon,
the suns, those are relatives.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Yeah, Candy, I think before we go any further too,
it would be really great, since there is kind of
a lack of education around the history and terminology of
indigenous peoples across North America, if we could like define
some of those terms you were bringing up, Like, I'd
love to know more about the tribal title of Oklala
(10:29):
lakotas who. I'm hoping you could kind of define that
as well as explain a little bit about the significance
of that for our listeners.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
Well, first of all, you know, I use the term
indigenous to Turtle Island a lot because I want there
to be the inclusivity of our indigenous relatives to the North.
Up in Canada, they're also known as First Nation folks.
You know, so First Nation people are the tribal nations
and indigenous people of Canada. And then we have our
(11:00):
southern relatives in Mexico, and you know, even the Pacific
Islands Andaians. Yes, you know, so we're all part of
this Turtle Island. And you know, some people just say
North America, but it's so much more than that. And
I do not identify with Native American or Indian because
in itself am Arigo Vesputi was a cartographer who was
(11:23):
a Cis white male who was extremely violent and problematic
to women. I will never carry his name with my identity,
and so that's why I'm very comfortable with indigenous. And
so I get more specific when I say indigenous Turtle Island.
And when it comes down to my tribal identity being
(11:44):
Oglala Lakota, sue I am Oglala, which is my tribal nation.
Lakota is a dialect in the language that I speak,
and sue is the is the identity of the nation
that I come from. And so you know, a part
of the northern plains, the Great Cue Nation, we have
the Ocheti Shock going, which is the seven Sacred Fires,
(12:07):
and it's the tribes and the tribal nation that protected
the Minisosu which is the Missouri River. And so you know,
every tribal nation has their natural resources. And of course
for every single one of us, you know, water is
sacred to us. Water is life, meaning with Tony and
(12:29):
in every entity that we have, that is how we
are all related. So when it comes down to even
modern times of having clean water to drink, clean air,
to breathe, healthy food, to eat. That's what makes us
all relatives.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
It's interesting that this case is actually like very tied
to water in a very kind of dark and specific way.
But you know, I guess I'm curious too. I think
a lot of listeners may not understand the significance of
the term two Spirit. So it's hoping you could also
define that and why that's and what that means.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
The term two Spirit is actually a contemporary term. It
is an umbrella term that was coined in the early
nineteen hundreds by our two Spirit elders who are in
a time of definitely being unseen, who were still being used,
who are still being called burdash, which is a term
(13:25):
that means kept person are basically sex slave. And so
you know, yes, and so these elders had said, we
need to find a term that identifies us so that
we can be a part of mainstream society, so that
we can be identified as a cultural term for lgbtq
(13:45):
AI plus people who are indigenous Turtle Island. And the
intention for that is because there's over just in the
United States alone, over five hundred and eighty recognized tribes,
and every single one of those tribes has our own language.
And so can you imagine how many words and terms
there are just for the al, the G, the B,
the T, the Q, the A, the I, you know,
(14:06):
and that's just one tribe, so exponentially, in the United States,
there's a million terms. And that's not even including our
relatives who are First Nation in Canada or Mexico relatives
who have all their own languages and their indigenous tribal nations.
So you know, two spirit is this term that is specific.
(14:26):
It's a cultural identifier for Indigenous people from Turtle Island.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
So talking about you know, Savannah Lafontaine Gray wind Candy,
how familiar are you with a Savannah Lafontaine gray win
case And do you remember when you found out about it?
And was it a big you know talk in your
tribe and in your nation.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
Absolutely, I mean it was humongous. I don't think not
a single Indigenous person wasn't impacted by it. Because in
my language we say matakiasse, which is all my relatives
or all my relations because like I had said, initially,
we were all related, all connected, yes, And I had
(15:31):
met her at Standing Rock at the camp, and so
it was profoundly impacting myself and you know, even at
the time, I myself was going through my own custody
battle with my two children and their father. And it
was the very first time, you know, because I moved
to Portland when my girls were in first and second grade.
(15:51):
Yeah they were, and we stayed, yes, and you know,
and that was like the first year that their father
had wanted to see them, and so he ended up
trying to keep them, and he was trying to use
tribal jurisdiction against me, and you know, so we ended
up finding a common ground, and you know, I let
him have a test trial with my children to keep
(16:13):
them for the school year. And that's why I ended
up going to Standing Rock.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
I remember watching you go through all of that.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
Yeah, yes, And I had said, you know, if all
I know how to do is be a mother, what
am I going to do with all this energy and
all this love? And I said, I'm going to go
take it to Standing Rock and see what I can
do with it. And that's when I initiated the two
Spirit Nation camp. I felt this horrendous, heart breaking feeling
(16:43):
of knowing, you know, her child was stolen from her
sacred womb, you know, and she was just exposed of
so you know, every single part of me felt it.
I felt like it happened to me too.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
And then you know, as far as the kind of
implications of Savannah's murder, what kind of like seismic impact
did it have on you know, the tribe and the
people in the indigenous community who saw this on the news?
You know, what were people saying and thinking about this?
Speaker 4 (17:15):
So you know, the only thing I can really measure
it next to with the seismic actual impact that it
had is when I watched these movies about you know,
JFK being shot and it was like the world said
still and everybody was impacted, to teachers and students and housewives.
(17:36):
You know, That's how it was for us when we
learned the details and when they found her body. And
again it goes back to MMI w and even beyond that,
because you know, for these entitled non indigenous people, these
white folks, these colonizers, to feel that they can take
(17:59):
such a sacred being. And in our language we say
wakaya and that's children. That means child because is sacred
and yisha is chosen ones. So our children are the
sacred chosen ones. So you know, it was just such
you know, there's not even a word to convey, but
(18:19):
it was like one of the most I don't even
know a colonial term to use for it, but it
was witnessing the worst possible impact of this post apocalyptic
state of being when colonizers come to divide and conquer.
They literally divided her and conquered her from this sacredness
(18:41):
of her own wa Kaysha.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
And that makes me wonder too. I mean, do you
think Savannah was targeted for being indigenous or do you
think she was more victim of opportunity and happened to
be indigenous. In any case, she was taken advantage of
by you know, white people. But I'm curious how you
perceive the sort of motive in this murder.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
Okay, let me take you back to the word white
people in Lakota in our language, so the word white
people is washichu, So that breaks down to washe which
is fat you che is to take. So if we
translate that word for word in English, it's called the
fat takers. This goes back to the time of the
(19:22):
fur traders and to manifest destiny. And there is this
like iconic black and white photo of these like thousands
of buffalo skulls, and there's like this one man standing
on top so proud, and maybe there's one more man
at the bottom to show how how high this mountain
a buffalo skulls was. And so these fur traders would
(19:44):
come in and scalp and take what they wanted off
of these buffalo And meanwhile the northern plains, the Great
su Nation, people were dying of starvation. And we would
come across and find our herd of buffalos and they
would be rotting carcasses and with all the meat and
everything on them, but they would just skin them for
their fur and for and a lot of them were
(20:07):
just headless because they were taking the skulls. And we've
learned that these white people are we didn't even know
the word white people, but they were taking the fat.
They would take the best part and leave the rest.
And so that's what the term fat taker means. And
so when I was educating folks, when I worked at
the ACLU, I think they felt defended, but that was
(20:28):
the actuality of how they have lived and continue to live.
And so absolutely it was because they were white people.
You know, they seen Savannah as less than they didn't
see her as a human being. They've seen her as
someone who was carrying something they wanted and they were
(20:48):
going to get it by any means necessary. And they did,
and they didn't see no consequence to that, because that's
what white supremacy is. White supremacy is filling and seeing
and believe that they are the supreme beings with no consequence.
And you know, that's why I argued a lot with
the Constitution in itself, because you know, the only way
(21:10):
we were even thought of, because the Constitution and amendments
were not written for people of color, for women, for
queer people, especially for Indigenous people to Turtle Island, we
were described as as the savages, the merciless savages. That's
the only way that you know, Indigenous people were written
into the Constitution. And so that continues to be the
(21:33):
mindset regardless of even you know, this podcast of people thinking,
was it really because you know, white people think differently
than in Native people, you know, And that's absolutely one
percent correct. It was because you know, they had she
had something that they wanted.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
So, Candy, I think I know the answer to this question.
But do you think that the police that were initially
investigating upstairs, you know, just from Savannah's home and her
neighbor's apartment. You know, do we think they did a
good enough job. I mean, I think they searched the
home when her beautiful temple, her body was there, and
(22:14):
they didn't find it until eight days later.
Speaker 4 (22:17):
I definitely feel like they did not do a good job.
And a part of that, too, is because of Standing Rock.
You know, there was this humongous division between even the
police department, the sheriffs, the DAPPO officers that you know,
we actively watched some of the officers walk off the
job because they knew it was more than just a
(22:40):
protecting of the land that them on the other side
were doing. They were taking the opportunity to violate and
harm and hurt us, you know, And to this day,
like I still have a permanent egg bump on my
head and I'm missing a tooth from getting beat.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Down so badly at Standing Rock.
Speaker 4 (22:57):
At Standing Rock, they were there to break us down.
They were there to put fear into us, and so
you know, I still have PTSD from that. And it
was a learned behavior. When we would go to Bismarck,
when we would go to Fargo, there was a continued
white people versus Native people across that whole state. So
(23:18):
I believe with my whole heart that a lot of
these missing and murdered Indigenous women cases in North Dakota
continue to be put on the back burner, and you
know a lot of times they're continued to just use
the jurisdictional component of tribal entities versus stay entity. And
(23:41):
I feel if it was a young wash Youto girl,
a young white girl, pregnant white girl who was missing,
there would have been a heck of a lot more
of a search and rescue for her.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
Mm hmmm, Yeah, that's interesting. I don't think it had
occurred to me that, you know, there had been this
kind of like stronger divide than ever before as a
result of standing rock between police and Indigenous people that
might result in them, you know, not only not giving
cases what they deserve, but you know, being actively harmful
to that process and in many ways, and not just police,
(24:15):
I mean we're also talking about the media here. I
think the media has not done as good a job
as they can when covering a lot of these cases
of missing and murdered Indigenous people. I'm curious, do you
see that also as just like you know, racism, plain
and simple, definitely.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
Plain and simple, you know, like I was saying, it
was more than just a young Indigenous woman who was
pregnant and missing. It was racially motivated, and the resources
that were offered, even within the court system itself, this
was just horrendous of an act on a human being.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
One other, you know, interesting thing, and I mentioned this
earlier when we were talking about water, is that many
of these cases of the missing and murdered Indigenous people
happened to take place around the Red River. Strangely, and
I know this has been talked about too in the community,
but I'm curious to get your thoughts on that and
why the Red River is sort of this epicenter for
(25:33):
a lot of these crimes to take place. One of
the other cases that happened there was that Tina Fontaine
was a young girl whose body was discovered along the
Red River, as well as Savannah Lafontaine and Gray Wind.
Speaker 4 (25:45):
Yes, and so you know, even with Savannah being pregnant,
that and itself goes back to the water, and that's
why water is so sacred, you know, And that was
that was a symbolic violation, especially you know, because this
was just so fresh and around the time of the
No Adapple movement and Standing Rock, and to know that
(26:05):
a lot of these missing and murdered Indigenous women, we
do find them in the water. And I feel like,
regardless of it, if it's Indigenous people, are non Indigenous
people who who are being you know, the violators that
the return to the water. For me, I feel like
it's a component of these people trying to remove themselves
(26:29):
from the human act that they're doing at the same
time symbolizing washing themselves from the sin, or you know,
putting these women in the water so that there's no
trace of them regardless. You know, people don't see how
much we are related to the water, and even if
they're not spiritual or cultural, they continue to go back
(26:50):
to the water. And that's why a lot of these
as I was stating, extractions from Mother Earth, they impact
us to our core, regardless of gender.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
That's an interesting take on that, and it's heartbreaking and
healing at the same time. I know that, you know,
sounds awful, but one light in this very very dark
case at least is that the killers were swiftly brought
to justice. But as we all know, that does not
often happen. And I know how much of an activist
(27:25):
and advocate that you are. Can you tell our listeners
like how prevalent are these cases? Are people you know
going missing and getting murdered every single day? This is
truly an epidemic, right.
Speaker 4 (27:39):
It's absolutely an epidemic. And that's the major component of
it is is that there's a lack of data because
there is a lack of even resources across the states.
And I know, you know, there's this ambulert system and
that is for you know, the use and for kids,
(28:00):
and for you know, a whole another scope of human beings.
But when it comes to the numbers of Indigenous women,
there is no data whatsoever and have there been? You know,
I know that in itself would create a whole brand
new scope of how to deal, how to prevent, and
(28:21):
how to educate about missing and murdered Indigenous women. And
like I said, it goes back centuries. It goes back
to you know, first contact, It goes back to the
first fourteen ninety two May Flowership, you know, because women
are not commodities, you know, and to come and bring
(28:42):
the practices of fat takers and apply that to women,
especially Indigenous women, especially on our own ancestral lands, that
has been defined by the doctrine of discovery by the
palpables over across the ocean, that has stated that we
were savages because we were not baptized or we did
(29:05):
not follow Catholicism, our Christianity. That in itself is.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
The sin h So, Candy, I think you probably know this,
but for you know our listeners who might not, there
is one small silver lining in this case, which is
that the savannahs Act was signed into federal law in
October of twenty twenty and so according to the Justice Department,
this law is quote a bipartisan effort to improve the
(29:30):
federal response to missing or murdered Indigenous persons, including by
increasing coordination among federal, state, tribal, and local law enforcement
agencies end quote. So that feels like a step in
the right direction. But I'm curious what your take on
that is and if that feels like enough or is
that even actually happening in practice, or are we even
(29:52):
doing anything with that law.
Speaker 4 (29:54):
Well, I do feel like that definitely is a silver
lining with the Savannah Act because I have used the
wording in itself and the act to lobby and to
create legislation in South Dakota. And you know, our legislators
were the ones who passed the bill for creating Tribal
(30:14):
Liaison for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People in the Attorney
General's Office in South Dakota. So we were able to
create this, Yes, we were able to create this position
because there are young women who are missing weekly and
pretty much daily, even here in my city, in Rapid City.
(30:36):
And you know, when we look at the website it
lists the missing people and majority, like there is ninety
percent Indigenous people on this missing list. And so, you know,
to have an actual act on a congressional level that
is bipartisan was you know, a big catalyst to start
(31:00):
conversations and to say what are we doing on a
local level, what are we doing on a state level?
You know, but we need more. You know, that in
itself definitely was the beginning of these political and legislative conversations.
And so you know, I'm so grateful that we can
continue the narrative and that there are podcasts and that
(31:23):
there are continued allies and continued conversations, but we need
to go beyond conversation. We need to start taking action?
Speaker 2 (31:31):
Yes, and how do we do that? Candy? I would
love to know. Like on Facing Evil, we always always
always look for the light in the darkness, and that
is exactly why my sister and I do this show,
and my honorary brother Trevor does this show. And it's true,
like he's our not only our producer, like he's become
a you know, a sibling to us. And I want
(31:53):
to know what can we as listeners, as podcasters, as humans,
what actions can we take to be good allies?
Speaker 4 (32:02):
Well, first of all, you know, I really feel like
there should be a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women's task
Force in each state and here in South Dakota we
finally initiated hours as of last month as we went
through the position, as I stated, we lobbied for, and
you know, I feel like everyone should be reaching out
(32:24):
to their elected officials and asking them what can we do?
You know, like I said, we decided the place we
needed to go to was the Attorney General's office, So
you know, definitely ask what are we doing for missing
and murdered Indigenous people? And you know, if you want,
you can begin there, or you can even just start
(32:46):
reaching out to some of these organizations. In each state,
there is a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives People Women entity.
I know that there are during women's marches, they're also
for the missing murdered Indigenous women. And we have just
gotten our it's called oh Chetti Shockgoing Missing and Murdered
(33:08):
Indigenous People task Force, so we knew that South Dakota
has such a big epidemic. But it's beyond that, you know,
we want to continue building forces across Ochette Shockgoing and
within the tribes. So a lot of times too, I
think it's very important for every person in each state
to learn and educate themselves on what lands they're occupying
(33:31):
and what are the tribal nations of their state, because
you can always just reach out to those tribes themselves too.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
And before we let you go, I would love for
you just to share a little bit about everything that
you're doing right now, because I see it on social
media and I've told our listeners back when we you know,
started almost a year ago, they needed to follow you
at candy brings plenty and see everything that you're doing.
But if you could share, I would I would love
for you to share with the world what you're up
(33:58):
to now.
Speaker 4 (33:59):
Yeah, and you can all on my social media as
I go by two Spirit Woyri or Queen, so you
can find me at two Spirit Warrior Queen. Yes. And
you know, Pride is coming up and I have a
really you know, push pull tug of war with pride
months because two spirit people have been here since before
first contact. Two spirit people have been celebrating and have
(34:22):
been proud of themselves since before the riots at Stonewall.
And so a lot of times I feel like two
Spirit Pride leave out the indigenous component of the lands
they're marching on, and a lot of times these are
boxes the LGBTQ plus identities. And to add two spirits
(34:43):
to every single component of pride, every single component of
the rainbow. And don't just put the number two in
the letter s, write it out and say two spirit
so those young two spirits out there who feel unseen
unheard can be recognized.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
I love that. Candy brings plenty. Thank you for being
hearing you absolutely beautiful human.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
Yeah, thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (35:07):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
Now for our message of hope and healing. Today's emula
goes out to Savannah Lafontaine, Graywind and to every missing
and murdered Indigenous person out there. We will not let
the world forget you. We are committed to using our
voices to help spread the word about ending the systemic
violence on Indigenous people. Savannah had her entire life ahead
(35:37):
of her before she was murdered, but thankfully her beautiful baby,
Hazley Joe, survived. We are sending love and light to
Hazley Joe's father, Ashton Mathony, who is raising their young
child in a world without her mother. Today, we would
like to honor the memory of Savannah Lafontaine graywind Onward
(35:57):
and upward. Emoa. Well, that's our show for today. We
would love to hear what you thought about today's discussion
and if there's a case you'd like for us to cover,
find us on social media or email us at Facingoble
pod at tenderfoot dot tv Until next time.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
Aloha, Facing Evil is a production of iHeartRadio and Tenderfoot TV.
The show is hosted by Russia Paccuerero in Avet Gentile,
Matt Frederick, and Alex Williams our executive producers on behalf
(36:42):
of iHeartRadio, with producers Trevor Young and Jesse Funk. Donald
Albright and Payne Lindsay our executive producers on behalf of
Tenderfoot TV, alongside producer Tracy Kaplan. Our researcher is Carolyn Talmadge.
Original music by Makeup and Vanity Set. Find us on
social media or email us at facingevilpod at tenderfoot dot tv.
(37:06):
For more podcasts from iHeartRadio or Tenderfoot TV, visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
You're listening to Facing Evil, a production of iHeartRadio and
Tenderfoot TV. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast
are solely those of the individuals participating in the show
and do not represent those of iHeartRadio or Tenderfoot TV.
This podcast contains subject matter which may not be suitable
for everyone. Listener discretion is advised.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Hello, everyone, welcome back to Facing Evil. I'm Roshia Peccurero,
and surprise, my beautiful sister is not here with us today,
but we have someone very special filling in.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Hey, everyone, Trevor Young here. I am one of the
producers of the show and I am happy to be
filling in for Evet today.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Yes, Trevor is our brother from another mother, and we're
very happy to have him here today. I am, and
I know Yvette wishes she is here, but she is
on a much needed vacation in Italia, like she likes
to call it in Italy. But the show must go on,
So just for today, Trevor's agreed to co host with
(01:08):
me for event. So mahallo, Trevor, Yeah, thank you so much.
And today we are going to be revisiting a very
important issue that we tackled back in September when we
did a case about Tina Fontaine. And if you remember Tina,
she was a young Indigenous girl who went missing and
(01:30):
was sadly later found dead in Canada.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Right, So, I think that case made evidence a much
like bigger, major crisis that's going on not just in
this country, but across North America, and as we'll explain
in this interview today, really across the globe. And that
issue is that Indigenous women and girls are at incredibly
high risk violence, kidnapping, sex trafficking, and often homicide, and truthfully,
(01:58):
they're not getting the proper attention they need from either
the media or law enforcement. And this is something we've
been hearing about quite a bit regularly, especially if you
listen to Up and Vanished season three, which spent the
whole season on that very issue.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Yes, and I honestly didn't know a whole lot about
what was happening until I listened to Up and Vanished.
And today, you know, we are going to be talking
about a heartbreaking case of a young Indigenous girl named
Savannah Lafontaine Graywind. And this was horrific in the fact
(02:32):
that Savannah was a pregnant Indigenous woman she was killed
in North Dakota in twenty seventeen and joining us today
to talk about Savannah and really the bigger issue at
large is a personal friend of mine. Candy brings plenty,
and Candy is an Indigenous activist and spiritual practitioner. And
(02:53):
Candy is such an incredible human that I am looking
forward to speaking to and I'm looking for to everyone
listening to her. But first, Trevor is going to take
us through today's case.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Today, the gray Wind family learned the gruesome details behind
their loved ones murder. I hope no one else in
this community, in the United States and the world ever
has to under the payment I do that do gray
Ones have to?
Speaker 1 (03:22):
I learned of how my daughter was murdered and how
my granddaughter was taken from her. Savannah Lafontaine gray Wind
was a twenty two year old woman who was murdered
in August of twenty seventeen in Fargo, North Dakota. Her
body had been discovered wrapped in plastic against the banks
of the Red River. Savannah was an Indigenous woman and
(03:45):
a member of the Spirit Lake Sioux tribe. She was
also eight months pregnant at the time of her murder.
Just a year earlier, Savannah had moved to Fargo to
start a new job as a nursing assistant. She and
her boyfriend, Ashton Matheni, got an apartment and were expecting
their first child in September of twenty seventeen. On August nineteenth,
(04:05):
Savannah visited her parents before stopping in to visit her
upstairs neighbors, Brooke Cruz and William Hayne. That was the
last time anyone saw Savannah alive. According to other tenants
in the building. Loud banging sounds erupted from the apartment
of Cruise in Haine, but no one thought anything of it.
Savannah never returned home or respond to text recalls from
(04:29):
her family. Police searched Savannah's apartment as well as the
apartment of Cruise in Hayne, but they didn't find anything.
A search began, and many believed the authorities were slow
to respond because Savannah was Indigenous. Then days later, police
learned from Haynes's co workers that he had a new
baby in the apartment. The authorities then obtained a search
(04:52):
warrant and raided the apartment. There, they discovered the infant
baby of Savannah Lafontaine gray Wind and then on August
twenty seventh, eight days after she went missing, Kayakers discovered
Savannah's body in the Red River, wrapped in plastic and
duct tape. Hain would later say he came home on
August nineteenth to find blood all over the apartment. He
(05:15):
discovered that Brooke Cruz had lured Savannah there to trap
her and take her unborn baby. While Savannah was alive,
she cut the baby from her womb. Hain then helped
Cruise dispose of Savannah's body. Cruse had apparently wanted the
baby for herself because she was under pressure from Hain
to conceive a child. After they took the baby, they
(05:36):
hid Savannah's body in a dresser, which the police failed
to find on their initial investigation. Brook Cruise pleaded guilty
and was sentenced to life without parole. William Hayne was
also sentenced to life in prison for conspiring to kidnap
a baby and helping to dispose of a body. The
child survives and her name is Hazley Joe. She lives
(05:59):
with her father, Austin Matheni, who has full custody. This
case points to a troubling epidemic of missing and murdered
Indigenous people across North America. In twenty twenty, a new
law called Savannah's Act was passed to improve the resources
available to support and investigate these types of missing persons cases.
(06:19):
And So who was Savannah Lafontaine Graywynd, what led to
her troubling murder? And how does this case reveal a
need to address a crisis impacting Indigenous communities across the globe.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
So I am incredibly pleased to welcome to the show
a friend of mine, Candy brings plenty and Candy is
a two spirit Oglala La Cora su An activists and
spiritual practitioner. Candy Ekomo may welcome to Facing Evil.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
You say, thank you so much for having me and
also for being so progressive and a tentative to the
need of this topic. It's something that's extremely, uh, you know,
more than just an activist or a platform. It's it's
within my blood lineage. It's part of traditional protocol as
(07:23):
the Oglala Lakota Sioux and someone you know, an Indigenous
person to Turtle Island. You know this is you know,
missing and murdered Indigenous women is such an epidemic candy.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
That is so so so true, and you know full
disclosure to our facing evil listeners. I have the pleasure
of knowing you in real life when you spent your
time in the Portland area. You were supportive of me
and my wife when we owned Dapperdee and we got
to help and fundraise together and do all kinds of
fun things. And I've always respected you and admired all
(07:58):
of the work that you've been doing and continue to do.
So I know so much about you, but I would
love before we start, you know, talking about the case
that we want to talk about today, and of course
the bigger issue. I would love to know more about you,
where you come from, where you grew up, and of
course your beautiful culture and your family and all the
(08:20):
things if you could share with us.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
Yeah. So I come from the Piner's' Reservation. It's also
known or initially before it got the name Piner's Reservation,
it's known as the Prisoner of War Camp number three
three four, and you can google that, and every single
Indian reservation in the United States and beyond are prisoner
(08:42):
of war camps. So I have ten siblings, you know,
and all of them still reside and have grown up,
born and raised on the prisoner of war camp, including
you know, that's where my father was born and passed away.
And so there's a lot of tribal nations and tribal
people who have been born and raised and still living
(09:04):
in the conditions of these prisoner of war camps, and
which is extreme poverty, and all of it is definitely
still defined and restricted under the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
I truly feel that a lot of folks who are
not indigenous to Turtle Island, you know, they definitely have
(09:26):
a huge learning gap when it comes to a cultural
perspective or an indigenous lens. There's definitely like the law
of nature, and then there's you know, mad made laws,
and then there's the law of the land. And so
one of the huge aspects that a lot of non
indigenous folks have a hard time comprehending is that as
(09:50):
indigenous people, and I'm going to speak specifically la Quota,
as a Loquota person, we belong to the land. The
land does not belong to us. And so in every
aspect that's why the water, the trees, the air, the moon,
the suns, those are relatives.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Yeah, Candy, I think before we go any further too,
it would be really great, since there is kind of
a lack of education around the history and terminology of
indigenous peoples across North America, if we could like define
some of those terms you were bringing up, Like, I'd
love to know more about the tribal title of Oklala
(10:29):
lakotas who. I'm hoping you could kind of define that
as well as explain a little bit about the significance
of that for our listeners.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
Well, first of all, you know, I use the term
indigenous to Turtle Island a lot because I want there
to be the inclusivity of our indigenous relatives to the North.
Up in Canada, they're also known as First Nation folks.
You know, so First Nation people are the tribal nations
and indigenous people of Canada. And then we have our
(11:00):
southern relatives in Mexico, and you know, even the Pacific
Islands Andaians. Yes, you know, so we're all part of
this Turtle Island. And you know, some people just say
North America, but it's so much more than that. And
I do not identify with Native American or Indian because
in itself am Arigo Vesputi was a cartographer who was
(11:23):
a Cis white male who was extremely violent and problematic
to women. I will never carry his name with my identity,
and so that's why I'm very comfortable with indigenous. And
so I get more specific when I say indigenous Turtle Island.
And when it comes down to my tribal identity being
(11:44):
Oglala Lakota, sue I am Oglala, which is my tribal nation.
Lakota is a dialect in the language that I speak,
and sue is the is the identity of the nation
that I come from. And so you know, a part
of the northern plains, the Great Cue Nation, we have
the Ocheti Shock going, which is the seven Sacred Fires,
(12:07):
and it's the tribes and the tribal nation that protected
the Minisosu which is the Missouri River. And so you know,
every tribal nation has their natural resources. And of course
for every single one of us, you know, water is
sacred to us. Water is life, meaning with Tony and
(12:29):
in every entity that we have, that is how we
are all related. So when it comes down to even
modern times of having clean water to drink, clean air,
to breathe, healthy food, to eat. That's what makes us
all relatives.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
It's interesting that this case is actually like very tied
to water in a very kind of dark and specific way.
But you know, I guess I'm curious too. I think
a lot of listeners may not understand the significance of
the term two Spirit. So it's hoping you could also
define that and why that's and what that means.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
The term two Spirit is actually a contemporary term. It
is an umbrella term that was coined in the early
nineteen hundreds by our two Spirit elders who are in
a time of definitely being unseen, who were still being used,
who are still being called burdash, which is a term
(13:25):
that means kept person are basically sex slave. And so
you know, yes, and so these elders had said, we
need to find a term that identifies us so that
we can be a part of mainstream society, so that
we can be identified as a cultural term for lgbtq
(13:45):
AI plus people who are indigenous Turtle Island. And the
intention for that is because there's over just in the
United States alone, over five hundred and eighty recognized tribes,
and every single one of those tribes has our own language.
And so can you imagine how many words and terms
there are just for the al, the G, the B,
the T, the Q, the A, the I, you know,
(14:06):
and that's just one tribe, so exponentially, in the United States,
there's a million terms. And that's not even including our
relatives who are First Nation in Canada or Mexico relatives
who have all their own languages and their indigenous tribal nations.
So you know, two spirit is this term that is specific.
(14:26):
It's a cultural identifier for Indigenous people from Turtle Island.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
So talking about you know, Savannah Lafontaine Gray wind Candy,
how familiar are you with a Savannah Lafontaine gray win
case And do you remember when you found out about it?
And was it a big you know talk in your
tribe and in your nation.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
Absolutely, I mean it was humongous. I don't think not
a single Indigenous person wasn't impacted by it. Because in
my language we say matakiasse, which is all my relatives
or all my relations because like I had said, initially,
we were all related, all connected, yes, And I had
(15:31):
met her at Standing Rock at the camp, and so
it was profoundly impacting myself and you know, even at
the time, I myself was going through my own custody
battle with my two children and their father. And it
was the very first time, you know, because I moved
to Portland when my girls were in first and second grade.
(15:51):
Yeah they were, and we stayed, yes, and you know,
and that was like the first year that their father
had wanted to see them, and so he ended up
trying to keep them, and he was trying to use
tribal jurisdiction against me, and you know, so we ended
up finding a common ground, and you know, I let
him have a test trial with my children to keep
(16:13):
them for the school year. And that's why I ended
up going to Standing Rock.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
I remember watching you go through all of that.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
Yeah, yes, And I had said, you know, if all
I know how to do is be a mother, what
am I going to do with all this energy and
all this love? And I said, I'm going to go
take it to Standing Rock and see what I can
do with it. And that's when I initiated the two
Spirit Nation camp. I felt this horrendous, heart breaking feeling
(16:43):
of knowing, you know, her child was stolen from her
sacred womb, you know, and she was just exposed of
so you know, every single part of me felt it.
I felt like it happened to me too.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
And then you know, as far as the kind of
implications of Savannah's murder, what kind of like seismic impact
did it have on you know, the tribe and the
people in the indigenous community who saw this on the news?
You know, what were people saying and thinking about this?
Speaker 4 (17:15):
So you know, the only thing I can really measure
it next to with the seismic actual impact that it
had is when I watched these movies about you know,
JFK being shot and it was like the world said
still and everybody was impacted, to teachers and students and housewives.
(17:36):
You know, That's how it was for us when we
learned the details and when they found her body. And
again it goes back to MMI w and even beyond that,
because you know, for these entitled non indigenous people, these
white folks, these colonizers, to feel that they can take
(17:59):
such a sacred being. And in our language we say
wakaya and that's children. That means child because is sacred
and yisha is chosen ones. So our children are the
sacred chosen ones. So you know, it was just such
you know, there's not even a word to convey, but
(18:19):
it was like one of the most I don't even
know a colonial term to use for it, but it
was witnessing the worst possible impact of this post apocalyptic
state of being when colonizers come to divide and conquer.
They literally divided her and conquered her from this sacredness
(18:41):
of her own wa Kaysha.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
And that makes me wonder too. I mean, do you
think Savannah was targeted for being indigenous or do you
think she was more victim of opportunity and happened to
be indigenous. In any case, she was taken advantage of
by you know, white people. But I'm curious how you
perceive the sort of motive in this murder.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
Okay, let me take you back to the word white
people in Lakota in our language, so the word white
people is washichu, So that breaks down to washe which
is fat you che is to take. So if we
translate that word for word in English, it's called the
fat takers. This goes back to the time of the
(19:22):
fur traders and to manifest destiny. And there is this
like iconic black and white photo of these like thousands
of buffalo skulls, and there's like this one man standing
on top so proud, and maybe there's one more man
at the bottom to show how how high this mountain
a buffalo skulls was. And so these fur traders would
(19:44):
come in and scalp and take what they wanted off
of these buffalo And meanwhile the northern plains, the Great
su Nation, people were dying of starvation. And we would
come across and find our herd of buffalos and they
would be rotting carcasses and with all the meat and
everything on them, but they would just skin them for
their fur and for and a lot of them were
(20:07):
just headless because they were taking the skulls. And we've
learned that these white people are we didn't even know
the word white people, but they were taking the fat.
They would take the best part and leave the rest.
And so that's what the term fat taker means. And
so when I was educating folks, when I worked at
the ACLU, I think they felt defended, but that was
(20:28):
the actuality of how they have lived and continue to live.
And so absolutely it was because they were white people.
You know, they seen Savannah as less than they didn't
see her as a human being. They've seen her as
someone who was carrying something they wanted and they were
(20:48):
going to get it by any means necessary. And they did,
and they didn't see no consequence to that, because that's
what white supremacy is. White supremacy is filling and seeing
and believe that they are the supreme beings with no consequence.
And you know, that's why I argued a lot with
the Constitution in itself, because you know, the only way
(21:10):
we were even thought of, because the Constitution and amendments
were not written for people of color, for women, for
queer people, especially for Indigenous people to Turtle Island, we
were described as as the savages, the merciless savages. That's
the only way that you know, Indigenous people were written
into the Constitution. And so that continues to be the
(21:33):
mindset regardless of even you know, this podcast of people thinking,
was it really because you know, white people think differently
than in Native people, you know, And that's absolutely one
percent correct. It was because you know, they had she
had something that they wanted.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
So, Candy, I think I know the answer to this question.
But do you think that the police that were initially
investigating upstairs, you know, just from Savannah's home and her
neighbor's apartment. You know, do we think they did a
good enough job. I mean, I think they searched the
home when her beautiful temple, her body was there, and
(22:14):
they didn't find it until eight days later.
Speaker 4 (22:17):
I definitely feel like they did not do a good job.
And a part of that, too, is because of Standing Rock.
You know, there was this humongous division between even the
police department, the sheriffs, the DAPPO officers that you know,
we actively watched some of the officers walk off the
job because they knew it was more than just a
(22:40):
protecting of the land that them on the other side
were doing. They were taking the opportunity to violate and
harm and hurt us, you know, And to this day,
like I still have a permanent egg bump on my
head and I'm missing a tooth from getting beat.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Down so badly at Standing Rock.
Speaker 4 (22:57):
At Standing Rock, they were there to break us down.
They were there to put fear into us, and so
you know, I still have PTSD from that. And it
was a learned behavior. When we would go to Bismarck,
when we would go to Fargo, there was a continued
white people versus Native people across that whole state. So
(23:18):
I believe with my whole heart that a lot of
these missing and murdered Indigenous women cases in North Dakota
continue to be put on the back burner, and you
know a lot of times they're continued to just use
the jurisdictional component of tribal entities versus stay entity. And
(23:41):
I feel if it was a young wash Youto girl,
a young white girl, pregnant white girl who was missing,
there would have been a heck of a lot more
of a search and rescue for her.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
Mm hmmm, Yeah, that's interesting. I don't think it had
occurred to me that, you know, there had been this
kind of like stronger divide than ever before as a
result of standing rock between police and Indigenous people that
might result in them, you know, not only not giving
cases what they deserve, but you know, being actively harmful
to that process and in many ways, and not just police,
(24:15):
I mean we're also talking about the media here. I
think the media has not done as good a job
as they can when covering a lot of these cases
of missing and murdered Indigenous people. I'm curious, do you
see that also as just like you know, racism, plain
and simple, definitely.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
Plain and simple, you know, like I was saying, it
was more than just a young Indigenous woman who was
pregnant and missing. It was racially motivated, and the resources
that were offered, even within the court system itself, this
was just horrendous of an act on a human being.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
One other, you know, interesting thing, and I mentioned this
earlier when we were talking about water, is that many
of these cases of the missing and murdered Indigenous people
happened to take place around the Red River. Strangely, and
I know this has been talked about too in the community,
but I'm curious to get your thoughts on that and
why the Red River is sort of this epicenter for
(25:33):
a lot of these crimes to take place. One of
the other cases that happened there was that Tina Fontaine
was a young girl whose body was discovered along the
Red River, as well as Savannah Lafontaine and Gray Wind.
Speaker 4 (25:45):
Yes, and so you know, even with Savannah being pregnant,
that and itself goes back to the water, and that's
why water is so sacred, you know, And that was
that was a symbolic violation, especially you know, because this
was just so fresh and around the time of the
No Adapple movement and Standing Rock, and to know that
(26:05):
a lot of these missing and murdered Indigenous women, we
do find them in the water. And I feel like,
regardless of it, if it's Indigenous people, are non Indigenous
people who who are being you know, the violators that
the return to the water. For me, I feel like
it's a component of these people trying to remove themselves
(26:29):
from the human act that they're doing at the same
time symbolizing washing themselves from the sin, or you know,
putting these women in the water so that there's no
trace of them regardless. You know, people don't see how
much we are related to the water, and even if
they're not spiritual or cultural, they continue to go back
(26:50):
to the water. And that's why a lot of these
as I was stating, extractions from Mother Earth, they impact
us to our core, regardless of gender.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
That's an interesting take on that, and it's heartbreaking and
healing at the same time. I know that, you know,
sounds awful, but one light in this very very dark
case at least is that the killers were swiftly brought
to justice. But as we all know, that does not
often happen. And I know how much of an activist
(27:25):
and advocate that you are. Can you tell our listeners
like how prevalent are these cases? Are people you know
going missing and getting murdered every single day? This is
truly an epidemic, right.
Speaker 4 (27:39):
It's absolutely an epidemic. And that's the major component of
it is is that there's a lack of data because
there is a lack of even resources across the states.
And I know, you know, there's this ambulert system and
that is for you know, the use and for kids,
(28:00):
and for you know, a whole another scope of human beings.
But when it comes to the numbers of Indigenous women,
there is no data whatsoever and have there been? You know,
I know that in itself would create a whole brand
new scope of how to deal, how to prevent, and
(28:21):
how to educate about missing and murdered Indigenous women. And
like I said, it goes back centuries. It goes back
to you know, first contact, It goes back to the
first fourteen ninety two May Flowership, you know, because women
are not commodities, you know, and to come and bring
(28:42):
the practices of fat takers and apply that to women,
especially Indigenous women, especially on our own ancestral lands, that
has been defined by the doctrine of discovery by the
palpables over across the ocean, that has stated that we
were savages because we were not baptized or we did
(29:05):
not follow Catholicism, our Christianity. That in itself is.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
The sin h So, Candy, I think you probably know this,
but for you know our listeners who might not, there
is one small silver lining in this case, which is
that the savannahs Act was signed into federal law in
October of twenty twenty and so according to the Justice Department,
this law is quote a bipartisan effort to improve the
(29:30):
federal response to missing or murdered Indigenous persons, including by
increasing coordination among federal, state, tribal, and local law enforcement
agencies end quote. So that feels like a step in
the right direction. But I'm curious what your take on
that is and if that feels like enough or is
that even actually happening in practice, or are we even
(29:52):
doing anything with that law.
Speaker 4 (29:54):
Well, I do feel like that definitely is a silver
lining with the Savannah Act because I have used the
wording in itself and the act to lobby and to
create legislation in South Dakota. And you know, our legislators
were the ones who passed the bill for creating Tribal
(30:14):
Liaison for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People in the Attorney
General's Office in South Dakota. So we were able to
create this, Yes, we were able to create this position
because there are young women who are missing weekly and
pretty much daily, even here in my city, in Rapid City.
(30:36):
And you know, when we look at the website it
lists the missing people and majority, like there is ninety
percent Indigenous people on this missing list. And so, you know,
to have an actual act on a congressional level that
is bipartisan was you know, a big catalyst to start
(31:00):
conversations and to say what are we doing on a
local level, what are we doing on a state level?
You know, but we need more. You know, that in
itself definitely was the beginning of these political and legislative conversations.
And so you know, I'm so grateful that we can
continue the narrative and that there are podcasts and that
(31:23):
there are continued allies and continued conversations, but we need
to go beyond conversation. We need to start taking action?
Speaker 2 (31:31):
Yes, and how do we do that? Candy? I would
love to know. Like on Facing Evil, we always always
always look for the light in the darkness, and that
is exactly why my sister and I do this show,
and my honorary brother Trevor does this show. And it's true,
like he's our not only our producer, like he's become
a you know, a sibling to us. And I want
(31:53):
to know what can we as listeners, as podcasters, as humans,
what actions can we take to be good allies?
Speaker 4 (32:02):
Well, first of all, you know, I really feel like
there should be a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women's task
Force in each state and here in South Dakota we
finally initiated hours as of last month as we went
through the position, as I stated, we lobbied for, and
you know, I feel like everyone should be reaching out
(32:24):
to their elected officials and asking them what can we do?
You know, like I said, we decided the place we
needed to go to was the Attorney General's office, So
you know, definitely ask what are we doing for missing
and murdered Indigenous people? And you know, if you want,
you can begin there, or you can even just start
(32:46):
reaching out to some of these organizations. In each state,
there is a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives People Women entity.
I know that there are during women's marches, they're also
for the missing murdered Indigenous women. And we have just
gotten our it's called oh Chetti Shockgoing Missing and Murdered
(33:08):
Indigenous People task Force, so we knew that South Dakota
has such a big epidemic. But it's beyond that, you know,
we want to continue building forces across Ochette Shockgoing and
within the tribes. So a lot of times too, I
think it's very important for every person in each state
to learn and educate themselves on what lands they're occupying
(33:31):
and what are the tribal nations of their state, because
you can always just reach out to those tribes themselves too.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
And before we let you go, I would love for
you just to share a little bit about everything that
you're doing right now, because I see it on social
media and I've told our listeners back when we you know,
started almost a year ago, they needed to follow you
at candy brings plenty and see everything that you're doing.
But if you could share, I would I would love
for you to share with the world what you're up
(33:58):
to now.
Speaker 4 (33:59):
Yeah, and you can all on my social media as
I go by two Spirit Woyri or Queen, so you
can find me at two Spirit Warrior Queen. Yes. And
you know, Pride is coming up and I have a
really you know, push pull tug of war with pride
months because two spirit people have been here since before
first contact. Two spirit people have been celebrating and have
(34:22):
been proud of themselves since before the riots at Stonewall.
And so a lot of times I feel like two
Spirit Pride leave out the indigenous component of the lands
they're marching on, and a lot of times these are
boxes the LGBTQ plus identities. And to add two spirits
(34:43):
to every single component of pride, every single component of
the rainbow. And don't just put the number two in
the letter s, write it out and say two spirit
so those young two spirits out there who feel unseen
unheard can be recognized.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
I love that. Candy brings plenty. Thank you for being
hearing you absolutely beautiful human.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
Yeah, thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (35:07):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
Now for our message of hope and healing. Today's emula
goes out to Savannah Lafontaine, Graywind and to every missing
and murdered Indigenous person out there. We will not let
the world forget you. We are committed to using our
voices to help spread the word about ending the systemic
violence on Indigenous people. Savannah had her entire life ahead
(35:37):
of her before she was murdered, but thankfully her beautiful baby,
Hazley Joe, survived. We are sending love and light to
Hazley Joe's father, Ashton Mathony, who is raising their young
child in a world without her mother. Today, we would
like to honor the memory of Savannah Lafontaine graywind Onward
(35:57):
and upward. Emoa. Well, that's our show for today. We
would love to hear what you thought about today's discussion
and if there's a case you'd like for us to cover,
find us on social media or email us at Facingoble
pod at tenderfoot dot tv Until next time.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
Aloha, Facing Evil is a production of iHeartRadio and Tenderfoot TV.
The show is hosted by Russia Paccuerero in Avet Gentile,
Matt Frederick, and Alex Williams our executive producers on behalf
(36:42):
of iHeartRadio, with producers Trevor Young and Jesse Funk. Donald
Albright and Payne Lindsay our executive producers on behalf of
Tenderfoot TV, alongside producer Tracy Kaplan. Our researcher is Carolyn Talmadge.
Original music by Makeup and Vanity Set. Find us on
social media or email us at facingevilpod at tenderfoot dot tv.
(37:06):
For more podcasts from iHeartRadio or Tenderfoot TV, visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
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