WEBVTT - Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind 0:00:03.880 --> 0:00:07.400 You're listening to Facing Evil, a production of iHeartRadio and 0:00:07.480 --> 0:00:11.160 Tenderfoot TV. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast 0:00:11.320 --> 0:00:14.120 are solely those of the individuals participating in the show 0:00:14.400 --> 0:00:17.680 and do not represent those of iHeartRadio or Tenderfoot TV. 0:00:18.200 --> 0:00:21.280 This podcast contains subject matter which may not be suitable 0:00:21.320 --> 0:00:24.160 for everyone. Listener discretion is advised. 0:00:27.560 --> 0:00:32.000 Hello, everyone, welcome back to Facing Evil. I'm Roshia Peccurero, 0:00:32.720 --> 0:00:36.800 and surprise, my beautiful sister is not here with us today, 0:00:36.840 --> 0:00:39.400 but we have someone very special filling in. 0:00:39.960 --> 0:00:43.199 Hey, everyone, Trevor Young here. I am one of the 0:00:43.200 --> 0:00:45.519 producers of the show and I am happy to be 0:00:45.560 --> 0:00:47.000 filling in for Evet today. 0:00:47.479 --> 0:00:51.920 Yes, Trevor is our brother from another mother, and we're 0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:54.400 very happy to have him here today. I am, and 0:00:54.440 --> 0:00:57.920 I know Yvette wishes she is here, but she is 0:00:57.960 --> 0:01:01.360 on a much needed vacation in Italia, like she likes 0:01:01.400 --> 0:01:04.640 to call it in Italy. But the show must go on, 0:01:05.120 --> 0:01:08.080 So just for today, Trevor's agreed to co host with 0:01:08.160 --> 0:01:13.160 me for event. So mahallo, Trevor, Yeah, thank you so much. 0:01:14.040 --> 0:01:17.920 And today we are going to be revisiting a very 0:01:18.160 --> 0:01:22.000 important issue that we tackled back in September when we 0:01:22.160 --> 0:01:26.800 did a case about Tina Fontaine. And if you remember Tina, 0:01:26.959 --> 0:01:30.000 she was a young Indigenous girl who went missing and 0:01:30.319 --> 0:01:33.360 was sadly later found dead in Canada. 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:37.160 Right, So, I think that case made evidence a much 0:01:37.240 --> 0:01:40.640 like bigger, major crisis that's going on not just in 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:44.039 this country, but across North America, and as we'll explain 0:01:44.080 --> 0:01:48.440 in this interview today, really across the globe. And that 0:01:48.560 --> 0:01:51.920 issue is that Indigenous women and girls are at incredibly 0:01:52.000 --> 0:01:58.200 high risk violence, kidnapping, sex trafficking, and often homicide, and truthfully, 0:01:58.200 --> 0:02:00.800 they're not getting the proper attention they need from either 0:02:00.840 --> 0:02:03.760 the media or law enforcement. And this is something we've 0:02:03.800 --> 0:02:06.280 been hearing about quite a bit regularly, especially if you 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:09.600 listen to Up and Vanished season three, which spent the 0:02:09.639 --> 0:02:11.360 whole season on that very issue. 0:02:11.800 --> 0:02:14.680 Yes, and I honestly didn't know a whole lot about 0:02:14.680 --> 0:02:17.359 what was happening until I listened to Up and Vanished. 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:20.760 And today, you know, we are going to be talking 0:02:21.120 --> 0:02:26.440 about a heartbreaking case of a young Indigenous girl named 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:32.040 Savannah Lafontaine Graywind. And this was horrific in the fact 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:37.160 that Savannah was a pregnant Indigenous woman she was killed 0:02:37.440 --> 0:02:41.880 in North Dakota in twenty seventeen and joining us today 0:02:41.919 --> 0:02:45.000 to talk about Savannah and really the bigger issue at 0:02:45.080 --> 0:02:49.000 large is a personal friend of mine. Candy brings plenty, 0:02:49.160 --> 0:02:53.840 and Candy is an Indigenous activist and spiritual practitioner. And 0:02:53.919 --> 0:02:57.200 Candy is such an incredible human that I am looking 0:02:57.240 --> 0:03:00.520 forward to speaking to and I'm looking for to everyone 0:03:00.560 --> 0:03:03.560 listening to her. But first, Trevor is going to take 0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:04.880 us through today's case. 0:03:07.120 --> 0:03:10.120 Today, the gray Wind family learned the gruesome details behind 0:03:10.160 --> 0:03:14.720 their loved ones murder. I hope no one else in 0:03:14.760 --> 0:03:17.320 this community, in the United States and the world ever 0:03:17.360 --> 0:03:21.119 has to under the payment I do that do gray 0:03:21.160 --> 0:03:21.680 Ones have to? 0:03:22.320 --> 0:03:25.440 I learned of how my daughter was murdered and how 0:03:25.520 --> 0:03:31.079 my granddaughter was taken from her. Savannah Lafontaine gray Wind 0:03:31.480 --> 0:03:34.000 was a twenty two year old woman who was murdered 0:03:34.080 --> 0:03:38.440 in August of twenty seventeen in Fargo, North Dakota. Her 0:03:38.480 --> 0:03:41.920 body had been discovered wrapped in plastic against the banks 0:03:41.960 --> 0:03:45.480 of the Red River. Savannah was an Indigenous woman and 0:03:45.520 --> 0:03:48.200 a member of the Spirit Lake Sioux tribe. She was 0:03:48.240 --> 0:03:50.720 also eight months pregnant at the time of her murder. 0:03:51.560 --> 0:03:54.320 Just a year earlier, Savannah had moved to Fargo to 0:03:54.360 --> 0:03:57.120 start a new job as a nursing assistant. She and 0:03:57.200 --> 0:04:00.800 her boyfriend, Ashton Matheni, got an apartment and were expecting 0:04:00.840 --> 0:04:05.720 their first child in September of twenty seventeen. On August nineteenth, 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:09.120 Savannah visited her parents before stopping in to visit her 0:04:09.200 --> 0:04:13.840 upstairs neighbors, Brooke Cruz and William Hayne. That was the 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:18.480 last time anyone saw Savannah alive. According to other tenants 0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:21.960 in the building. Loud banging sounds erupted from the apartment 0:04:22.080 --> 0:04:25.160 of Cruise in Haine, but no one thought anything of it. 0:04:25.800 --> 0:04:29.440 Savannah never returned home or respond to text recalls from 0:04:29.480 --> 0:04:33.760 her family. Police searched Savannah's apartment as well as the 0:04:33.800 --> 0:04:37.280 apartment of Cruise in Hayne, but they didn't find anything. 0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:41.080 A search began, and many believed the authorities were slow 0:04:41.120 --> 0:04:46.680 to respond because Savannah was Indigenous. Then days later, police 0:04:46.760 --> 0:04:49.360 learned from Haynes's co workers that he had a new 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:52.640 baby in the apartment. The authorities then obtained a search 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:56.599 warrant and raided the apartment. There, they discovered the infant 0:04:56.600 --> 0:05:00.440 baby of Savannah Lafontaine gray Wind and then on August 0:05:00.480 --> 0:05:04.760 twenty seventh, eight days after she went missing, Kayakers discovered 0:05:04.760 --> 0:05:07.880 Savannah's body in the Red River, wrapped in plastic and 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:11.400 duct tape. Hain would later say he came home on 0:05:11.480 --> 0:05:15.159 August nineteenth to find blood all over the apartment. He 0:05:15.240 --> 0:05:18.719 discovered that Brooke Cruz had lured Savannah there to trap 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:22.400 her and take her unborn baby. While Savannah was alive, 0:05:22.839 --> 0:05:25.839 she cut the baby from her womb. Hain then helped 0:05:25.920 --> 0:05:30.200 Cruise dispose of Savannah's body. Cruse had apparently wanted the 0:05:30.200 --> 0:05:33.280 baby for herself because she was under pressure from Hain 0:05:33.440 --> 0:05:36.560 to conceive a child. After they took the baby, they 0:05:36.640 --> 0:05:40.040 hid Savannah's body in a dresser, which the police failed 0:05:40.080 --> 0:05:44.520 to find on their initial investigation. Brook Cruise pleaded guilty 0:05:44.680 --> 0:05:48.400 and was sentenced to life without parole. William Hayne was 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:51.679 also sentenced to life in prison for conspiring to kidnap 0:05:51.720 --> 0:05:54.839 a baby and helping to dispose of a body. The 0:05:54.960 --> 0:05:58.960 child survives and her name is Hazley Joe. She lives 0:05:59.000 --> 0:06:03.279 with her father, Austin Atheni, who has full custody. This 0:06:03.440 --> 0:06:06.599 case points to a troubling epidemic of missing and murdered 0:06:06.600 --> 0:06:11.000 Indigenous people across North America. In twenty twenty, a new 0:06:11.080 --> 0:06:14.800 law called Savannah's Act was passed to improve the resources 0:06:14.960 --> 0:06:18.839 available to support and investigate these types of missing persons cases. 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:23.919 And So who was Savannah Lafontaine Graywynd, what led to 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:27.520 her troubling murder? And how does this case reveal a 0:06:27.560 --> 0:06:36.160 need to address a crisis impacting Indigenous communities across the globe. 0:06:37.440 --> 0:06:42.200 So I am incredibly pleased to welcome to the show 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:47.480 a friend of mine, Candy brings plenty and Candy is 0:06:47.560 --> 0:06:52.600 a two spirit Oglala La Cora su An activists and 0:06:52.720 --> 0:06:58.760 spiritual practitioner. Candy Ekomo may welcome to Facing Evil. 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:03.080 You say, thank you so much for having me and 0:07:03.200 --> 0:07:08.560 also for being so progressive and a tentative to the 0:07:08.600 --> 0:07:13.920 need of this topic. It's something that's extremely, uh, you know, 0:07:14.160 --> 0:07:18.440 more than just an activist or a platform. It's it's 0:07:18.480 --> 0:07:23.120 within my blood lineage. It's part of traditional protocol as 0:07:23.160 --> 0:07:27.200 the Oglala Lakota Sioux and someone you know, an Indigenous 0:07:27.240 --> 0:07:30.640 person to Turtle Island. You know this is you know, 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:35.840 missing and murdered Indigenous women is such an epidemic candy. 0:07:35.920 --> 0:07:38.800 That is so so so true, and you know full 0:07:38.840 --> 0:07:41.960 disclosure to our facing evil listeners. I have the pleasure 0:07:42.000 --> 0:07:44.600 of knowing you in real life when you spent your 0:07:44.640 --> 0:07:48.000 time in the Portland area. You were supportive of me 0:07:48.120 --> 0:07:51.560 and my wife when we owned Dapperdee and we got 0:07:51.560 --> 0:07:54.440 to help and fundraise together and do all kinds of 0:07:54.480 --> 0:07:58.760 fun things. And I've always respected you and admired all 0:07:58.800 --> 0:08:01.960 of the work that you've been doing and continue to do. 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:04.640 So I know so much about you, but I would 0:08:04.720 --> 0:08:07.640 love before we start, you know, talking about the case 0:08:07.680 --> 0:08:10.000 that we want to talk about today, and of course 0:08:10.200 --> 0:08:14.080 the bigger issue. I would love to know more about you, 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:16.720 where you come from, where you grew up, and of 0:08:16.760 --> 0:08:20.600 course your beautiful culture and your family and all the 0:08:20.640 --> 0:08:21.960 things if you could share with us. 0:08:22.480 --> 0:08:26.120 Yeah. So I come from the Piner's' Reservation. It's also 0:08:26.280 --> 0:08:30.600 known or initially before it got the name Piner's Reservation, 0:08:31.200 --> 0:08:33.640 it's known as the Prisoner of War Camp number three 0:08:33.720 --> 0:08:37.520 three four, and you can google that, and every single 0:08:37.800 --> 0:08:42.880 Indian reservation in the United States and beyond are prisoner 0:08:42.880 --> 0:08:46.480 of war camps. So I have ten siblings, you know, 0:08:46.600 --> 0:08:49.679 and all of them still reside and have grown up, 0:08:49.760 --> 0:08:52.680 born and raised on the prisoner of war camp, including 0:08:52.720 --> 0:08:55.800 you know, that's where my father was born and passed away. 0:08:56.320 --> 0:09:00.640 And so there's a lot of tribal nations and tribal 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:04.480 people who have been born and raised and still living 0:09:04.600 --> 0:09:08.440 in the conditions of these prisoner of war camps, and 0:09:08.480 --> 0:09:11.880 which is extreme poverty, and all of it is definitely 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:17.959 still defined and restricted under the Bureau of Indian Affairs. 0:09:18.240 --> 0:09:21.920 I truly feel that a lot of folks who are 0:09:21.960 --> 0:09:26.560 not indigenous to Turtle Island, you know, they definitely have 0:09:26.960 --> 0:09:30.120 a huge learning gap when it comes to a cultural 0:09:30.160 --> 0:09:35.120 perspective or an indigenous lens. There's definitely like the law 0:09:35.160 --> 0:09:38.920 of nature, and then there's you know, mad made laws, 0:09:39.480 --> 0:09:42.160 and then there's the law of the land. And so 0:09:42.520 --> 0:09:45.840 one of the huge aspects that a lot of non 0:09:45.880 --> 0:09:50.600 indigenous folks have a hard time comprehending is that as 0:09:50.760 --> 0:09:54.199 indigenous people, and I'm going to speak specifically la Quota, 0:09:54.280 --> 0:09:57.800 as a Loquota person, we belong to the land. The 0:09:57.880 --> 0:10:01.920 land does not belong to us. And so in every aspect, 0:10:02.600 --> 0:10:06.600 that's why the water, the trees, the air, the moon, 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:08.680 the suns as are relatives. 0:10:09.000 --> 0:10:11.120 Yeah, Candy, I think before we go any further too, 0:10:11.160 --> 0:10:13.640 it would be really great, since there is kind of 0:10:13.640 --> 0:10:18.480 a lack of education around the history and terminology of 0:10:18.559 --> 0:10:22.640 indigenous peoples across North America, if we could like define 0:10:22.679 --> 0:10:25.200 some of those terms you were bringing up, Like, I'd 0:10:25.200 --> 0:10:29.040 love to know more about the tribal title of Oklala 0:10:29.080 --> 0:10:31.920 lakotas who. I'm hoping you could kind of define that 0:10:32.160 --> 0:10:36.160 as well as explain a little bit about the significance 0:10:36.200 --> 0:10:37.280 of that for our listeners. 0:10:37.760 --> 0:10:40.240 Well, first of all, you know, I use the term 0:10:40.320 --> 0:10:44.440 indigenous to Turtle Island a lot because I want there 0:10:44.559 --> 0:10:48.960 to be the inclusivity of our indigenous relatives to the North. 0:10:49.040 --> 0:10:52.679 Up in Canada, they're also known as First Nation folks. 0:10:53.040 --> 0:10:56.280 You know, so First Nation people are the tribal nations 0:10:56.800 --> 0:11:00.199 and indigenous people of Canada. And then we have our 0:11:00.280 --> 0:11:04.520 southern relatives in Mexico, and you know, even the Pacific 0:11:04.559 --> 0:11:08.760 Islands Andaians. Yes, you know, so we're all part of 0:11:08.800 --> 0:11:12.360 this Turtle Island. And you know, some people just say 0:11:12.400 --> 0:11:15.160 North America, but it's so much more than that. And 0:11:15.280 --> 0:11:19.800 I do not identify with Native American or Indian because 0:11:19.880 --> 0:11:23.920 in itself am Arigo Vesputi was a cartographer who was 0:11:23.960 --> 0:11:28.000 a Cis white male who was extremely violent and problematic 0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:31.640 to women. I will never carry his name with my identity, 0:11:32.000 --> 0:11:35.839 and so that's why I'm very comfortable with indigenous. And 0:11:35.920 --> 0:11:39.720 so I get more specific when I say indigenous Turtle Island. 0:11:40.280 --> 0:11:44.120 And when it comes down to my tribal identity being 0:11:44.240 --> 0:11:49.360 Oglala Lakota, sue I am Oglala, which is my tribal nation. 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:53.120 Lakota is a dialect in the language that I speak, 0:11:53.720 --> 0:11:56.680 and sue is the is the identity of the nation 0:11:56.840 --> 0:11:59.680 that I come from. And so you know, a part 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:03.200 of the northern plains, the Great Cue Nation, we have 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:06.560 the Ocheti Shock going, which is the seven Sacred Fires, 0:12:07.040 --> 0:12:11.600 and it's the tribes and the tribal nation that protected 0:12:11.920 --> 0:12:16.880 the Minisosu which is the Missouri River. And so you know, 0:12:17.040 --> 0:12:22.120 every tribal nation has their natural resources. And of course 0:12:22.440 --> 0:12:25.599 for every single one of us, you know, water is 0:12:26.040 --> 0:12:29.800 sacred to us. Water is life, meaning with Tony and 0:12:29.840 --> 0:12:32.600 in every entity that we have, that is how we 0:12:32.640 --> 0:12:36.000 are all related. So when it comes down to even 0:12:36.160 --> 0:12:40.600 modern times of having clean water to drink, clean air, 0:12:40.679 --> 0:12:43.480 to breathe, healthy food, to eat. That's what makes us 0:12:43.520 --> 0:12:44.440 all relatives. 0:12:44.840 --> 0:12:47.800 It's interesting that this case is actually like very tied 0:12:47.840 --> 0:12:50.600 to water in a very kind of dark and specific way. 0:12:51.400 --> 0:12:53.800 But you know, I guess I'm curious too. I think 0:12:53.840 --> 0:12:56.280 a lot of listeners may not understand the significance of 0:12:56.320 --> 0:12:58.280 the term two Spirit. So it's hoping you could also 0:12:58.360 --> 0:13:01.240 define that and why that's and what that means. 0:13:01.600 --> 0:13:06.320 The term two Spirit is actually a contemporary term. It 0:13:06.400 --> 0:13:08.560 is an umbrella term that was coined in the early 0:13:08.640 --> 0:13:12.720 nineteen hundreds by our two Spirit elders who are in 0:13:12.800 --> 0:13:19.000 a time of definitely being unseen, who were still being used, 0:13:19.240 --> 0:13:24.959 who are still being called burdash, which is a term 0:13:25.000 --> 0:13:29.200 that means kept person are basically sex slave. And so 0:13:29.480 --> 0:13:32.640 you know, yes, and so these elders had said, we 0:13:32.760 --> 0:13:36.079 need to find a term that identifies us so that 0:13:36.120 --> 0:13:39.120 we can be a part of mainstream society, so that 0:13:39.160 --> 0:13:45.000 we can be identified as a cultural term for lgbtq 0:13:45.720 --> 0:13:49.040 AI plus people who are indigenous Turtle Island. And the 0:13:49.080 --> 0:13:51.880 intention for that is because there's over just in the 0:13:51.960 --> 0:13:55.640 United States alone, over five hundred and eighty recognized tribes, 0:13:55.960 --> 0:13:58.600 and every single one of those tribes has our own language. 0:13:59.040 --> 0:14:01.760 And so can you imagine how many words and terms 0:14:01.800 --> 0:14:04.240 there are just for the al, the G, the B, 0:14:04.400 --> 0:14:06.520 the T, the Q, the A, the I, you know, 0:14:06.559 --> 0:14:10.120 and that's just one tribe, so exponentially, in the United States, 0:14:10.200 --> 0:14:14.199 there's a million terms. And that's not even including our 0:14:14.240 --> 0:14:18.520 relatives who are First Nation in Canada or Mexico relatives 0:14:18.520 --> 0:14:23.080 who have all their own languages and their indigenous tribal nations. 0:14:23.320 --> 0:14:26.760 So you know, two spirit is this term that is specific. 0:14:26.960 --> 0:14:30.760 It's a cultural identifier for Indigenous people from Turtle Island. 0:14:51.760 --> 0:14:55.880 So talking about you know, Savannah Lafontaine Gray wind Candy, 0:14:56.360 --> 0:14:59.920 how familiar are you with a Savannah Lafontaine gray win 0:15:00.480 --> 0:15:04.680 case And do you remember when you found out about it? 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:07.440 And was it a big you know talk in your 0:15:07.520 --> 0:15:08.480 tribe and in your nation. 0:15:09.440 --> 0:15:14.280 Absolutely, I mean it was humongous. I don't think not 0:15:14.400 --> 0:15:19.600 a single Indigenous person wasn't impacted by it. Because in 0:15:19.680 --> 0:15:24.520 my language we say matakiasse, which is all my relatives 0:15:24.760 --> 0:15:27.160 or all my relations because like I had said, initially, 0:15:27.240 --> 0:15:31.320 we were all related, all connected, yes, And I had 0:15:31.360 --> 0:15:34.680 met her at Standing Rock at the camp, and so 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:38.960 it was profoundly impacting myself and you know, even at 0:15:39.000 --> 0:15:43.840 the time, I myself was going through my own custody 0:15:43.840 --> 0:15:47.120 battle with my two children and their father. And it 0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:48.920 was the very first time, you know, because I moved 0:15:48.920 --> 0:15:51.840 to Portland when my girls were in first and second grade. 0:15:51.920 --> 0:15:55.000 Yeah they were, and we stayed, yes, and you know, 0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:58.280 and that was like the first year that their father 0:15:58.440 --> 0:16:02.000 had wanted to see them, and so he ended up 0:16:02.000 --> 0:16:04.120 trying to keep them, and he was trying to use 0:16:04.160 --> 0:16:08.200 tribal jurisdiction against me, and you know, so we ended 0:16:08.280 --> 0:16:11.560 up finding a common ground, and you know, I let 0:16:11.680 --> 0:16:13.880 him have a test trial with my children to keep 0:16:13.920 --> 0:16:16.400 them for the school year. And that's why I ended 0:16:16.480 --> 0:16:17.520 up going to Standing Rock. 0:16:17.720 --> 0:16:19.680 I remember watching you go through all of that. 0:16:20.120 --> 0:16:23.440 Yeah, yes, And I had said, you know, if all 0:16:23.480 --> 0:16:25.160 I know how to do is be a mother, what 0:16:25.200 --> 0:16:26.960 am I going to do with all this energy and 0:16:27.040 --> 0:16:29.200 all this love? And I said, I'm going to go 0:16:29.760 --> 0:16:31.880 take it to Standing Rock and see what I can 0:16:31.920 --> 0:16:34.640 do with it. And that's when I initiated the two 0:16:34.640 --> 0:16:42.760 Spirit Nation camp. I felt this horrendous, heart breaking feeling 0:16:43.000 --> 0:16:48.800 of knowing, you know, her child was stolen from her 0:16:48.840 --> 0:16:52.200 sacred womb, you know, and she was just exposed of 0:16:52.440 --> 0:16:56.240 so you know, every single part of me felt it. 0:16:56.520 --> 0:16:58.040 I felt like it happened to me too. 0:16:59.280 --> 0:17:01.320 And then you know, as far as the kind of 0:17:01.360 --> 0:17:06.560 implications of Savannah's murder, what kind of like seismic impact 0:17:06.560 --> 0:17:09.000 did it have on you know, the tribe and the 0:17:09.040 --> 0:17:11.960 people in the indigenous community who saw this on the news? 0:17:12.160 --> 0:17:14.400 You know, what were people saying and thinking about this? 0:17:15.200 --> 0:17:18.919 So you know, the only thing I can really measure 0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:23.159 it next to with the seismic actual impact that it 0:17:23.240 --> 0:17:26.120 had is when I watched these movies about you know, 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:30.400 JFK being shot and it was like the world said 0:17:30.440 --> 0:17:35.960 still and everybody was impacted, to teachers and students and housewives. 0:17:36.240 --> 0:17:38.639 You know, That's how it was for us when we 0:17:38.800 --> 0:17:42.520 learned the details and when they found her body. And 0:17:43.200 --> 0:17:48.520 again it goes back to MMI w and even beyond that, 0:17:48.640 --> 0:17:53.840 because you know, for these entitled non indigenous people, these 0:17:53.880 --> 0:17:58.359 white folks, these colonizers, to feel that they can take 0:17:59.480 --> 0:18:02.600 such a sacred being. And in our language we say 0:18:02.720 --> 0:18:07.800 wakaya and that's children. That means child because is sacred 0:18:08.200 --> 0:18:11.040 and yisha is chosen ones. So our children are the 0:18:11.080 --> 0:18:16.399 sacred chosen ones. So you know, it was just such 0:18:16.880 --> 0:18:18.960 you know, there's not even a word to convey, but 0:18:19.640 --> 0:18:22.000 it was like one of the most I don't even 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:24.919 know a colonial term to use for it, but it 0:18:24.960 --> 0:18:31.120 was witnessing the worst possible impact of this post apocalyptic 0:18:31.880 --> 0:18:35.760 state of being when colonizers come to divide and conquer. 0:18:36.280 --> 0:18:40.600 They literally divided her and conquered her from this sacredness 0:18:41.000 --> 0:18:42.320 of her own wa Kaysha. 0:18:43.480 --> 0:18:44.960 And that makes me wonder too. I mean, do you 0:18:45.000 --> 0:18:48.879 think Savannah was targeted for being indigenous or do you 0:18:48.880 --> 0:18:51.199 think she was more victim of opportunity and happened to 0:18:51.200 --> 0:18:53.960 be indigenous. In any case, she was taken advantage of 0:18:54.040 --> 0:18:57.479 by you know, white people. But I'm curious how you 0:18:57.520 --> 0:19:00.280 perceive the sort of motive in this murder. 0:19:00.359 --> 0:19:03.200 Okay, let me take you back to the word white 0:19:03.240 --> 0:19:08.080 people in Lakota in our language, so the word white 0:19:08.119 --> 0:19:13.720 people is washichu, So that breaks down to washe, which 0:19:13.760 --> 0:19:17.800 is fat echo is to take. So if we translate 0:19:17.840 --> 0:19:20.520 that word for word in English, it's called the fat takers. 0:19:20.880 --> 0:19:23.600 This goes back to the time of the fur traders 0:19:23.920 --> 0:19:28.440 and to manifest destiny. And there is this like iconic 0:19:28.880 --> 0:19:33.440 black and white photo of these like thousands of buffalo skulls, 0:19:33.520 --> 0:19:36.639 and there's like this one man standing on top so proud, 0:19:36.960 --> 0:19:38.960 and maybe there's one more man at the bottom to 0:19:39.040 --> 0:19:43.080 show how how high this mountain a buffalo skulls was. 0:19:43.440 --> 0:19:46.040 And so these fur traders would come in and scalp 0:19:46.160 --> 0:19:48.919 and take what they wanted off of these buffalo And 0:19:49.040 --> 0:19:53.200 meanwhile the northern plains, the Great Sux Nation, people were 0:19:53.320 --> 0:19:57.080 dying of starvation. And we would come across and find 0:19:57.280 --> 0:20:00.160 our herd of buffalos and they would be rotting carcasses 0:20:00.880 --> 0:20:03.119 and with all the meat and everything on them, but 0:20:03.160 --> 0:20:05.480 they would just skin them for their fur and for 0:20:06.200 --> 0:20:07.840 and a lot of them were just headless because they 0:20:07.880 --> 0:20:11.679 were taking the skulls. And we've learned that these white 0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:14.080 people are we didn't even know the word white people, 0:20:14.119 --> 0:20:16.119 but they were taking the fat. They would take the 0:20:16.160 --> 0:20:20.119 best part and leave the rest. And so that's what 0:20:20.240 --> 0:20:23.679 the term fat taker means. And so when I was 0:20:23.840 --> 0:20:26.119 educating folks, when I worked at the ACLU, I think 0:20:26.119 --> 0:20:30.680 they felt defended, but that was the actuality of how 0:20:31.480 --> 0:20:35.840 they have lived and continue to live. And so absolutely 0:20:35.960 --> 0:20:38.600 it was because they were white people. You know, they 0:20:38.760 --> 0:20:43.080 seen Savannah as less than they didn't see her as 0:20:43.119 --> 0:20:46.280 a human being. They've seen her as someone who was 0:20:46.359 --> 0:20:49.320 carrying something they wanted and they were going to get 0:20:49.359 --> 0:20:52.119 it by any means necessary. And they did, and they 0:20:52.160 --> 0:20:55.120 didn't see no consequence to that, because that's what white 0:20:55.160 --> 0:21:00.000 supremacy is. White supremacy is filling and seeing and believe 0:21:00.320 --> 0:21:03.240 that they are the supreme beings with no consequence. And 0:21:03.280 --> 0:21:05.520 you know, that's why I argued a lot with the 0:21:06.160 --> 0:21:10.320 Constitution in itself, because you know, the only way we 0:21:10.440 --> 0:21:14.200 were even thought of, because the Constitution and amendments were 0:21:14.240 --> 0:21:17.679 not written for people of color, for women, for queer people, 0:21:17.920 --> 0:21:22.639 especially for Indigenous people to Turtle Island, we were described 0:21:22.800 --> 0:21:26.960 as as the savages, the merciless savages. That's the only 0:21:27.000 --> 0:21:31.000 way that you know, Indigenous people were written into the Constitution. 0:21:31.680 --> 0:21:35.680 And so that continues to be the mindset regardless of 0:21:36.040 --> 0:21:40.080 even you know, this podcast of people thinking, was it 0:21:40.160 --> 0:21:45.119 really because you know, white people think differently than in 0:21:45.280 --> 0:21:48.480 Native people, you know, and that's absolutely one percent correct. 0:21:49.160 --> 0:21:52.479 It was because you know, they had she had something 0:21:52.560 --> 0:21:53.639 that they wanted. 0:21:54.640 --> 0:21:57.240 So, Candy, I think I know the answer to this question. 0:21:57.359 --> 0:22:00.159 But do you think that the police that were initially 0:22:00.240 --> 0:22:04.520 investigating upstairs, you know, just from Savanna's home and her 0:22:04.560 --> 0:22:07.960 neighbor's apartment. You know, do we think they did a 0:22:07.960 --> 0:22:10.399 good enough job. I mean, I think they searched the 0:22:10.520 --> 0:22:14.720 home when her beautiful temple, her body was there, and 0:22:14.760 --> 0:22:16.680 they didn't find it until eight days later. 0:22:17.320 --> 0:22:20.359 I definitely feel like they did not do a good job. 0:22:20.520 --> 0:22:24.120 And a part of that, too, is because of Standing Rock. 0:22:24.359 --> 0:22:29.240 You know, there was this humongous division between even the 0:22:29.280 --> 0:22:33.239 police department, the sheriffs, the DAPPO officers that you know, 0:22:33.280 --> 0:22:37.000 we actively watched some of the officers walk off the 0:22:37.080 --> 0:22:40.760 job because they knew it was more than just a 0:22:40.800 --> 0:22:43.640 protecting of the land that them on the other side 0:22:43.680 --> 0:22:47.280 were doing. They were taking the opportunity to violate and 0:22:47.400 --> 0:22:50.000 harm and hurt us, you know, And to this day, 0:22:50.400 --> 0:22:52.800 like I still have a permanent egg bump on my 0:22:52.880 --> 0:22:55.160 head and I'm missing a tooth from getting beat. 0:22:55.000 --> 0:22:57.400 Down so badly at Standing Rock. 0:22:57.640 --> 0:23:00.800 At Standing Rock, they were there to break us down. 0:23:01.280 --> 0:23:04.560 They were there to put fear into us, and so 0:23:04.760 --> 0:23:07.040 you know, I still have PTSD from that. And it 0:23:07.119 --> 0:23:09.360 was a learned behavior. When we would go to Bismarck, 0:23:09.560 --> 0:23:12.200 when we would go to Fargo, there was a continued 0:23:12.720 --> 0:23:18.000 white people versus Native people across that whole state. So 0:23:18.119 --> 0:23:22.199 I believe with my whole heart that a lot of 0:23:22.240 --> 0:23:25.720 these missing and murdered Indigenous women cases in North Dakota 0:23:25.920 --> 0:23:30.080 continue to be put on the back burner, and you 0:23:30.080 --> 0:23:33.800 know a lot of times they're continued to just use 0:23:33.880 --> 0:23:40.160 the jurisdictional component of tribal entities versus stay entity. And 0:23:41.000 --> 0:23:44.320 I feel if it was a young wash Youto girl, 0:23:44.400 --> 0:23:47.240 a young white girl, pregnant white girl who was missing, 0:23:47.720 --> 0:23:50.200 there would have been a heck of a lot more 0:23:50.320 --> 0:23:52.640 of a search and rescue for her. 0:23:53.359 --> 0:23:55.760 Mm hmmm, yeah, that's interesting. I don't think it had 0:23:55.760 --> 0:23:58.000 occurred to me that, you know, there had been this 0:23:58.080 --> 0:24:00.560 kind of like stronger divide than ever before as a 0:24:00.600 --> 0:24:03.919 result of standing rock between police and Indigenous people that 0:24:04.040 --> 0:24:07.680 might result in them, you know, not only not giving 0:24:07.720 --> 0:24:12.560 cases what they deserve, but you know, being actively harmful 0:24:12.600 --> 0:24:15.200 to that process and in many ways, and not just police, 0:24:15.240 --> 0:24:16.920 I mean we're also talking about the media here. I 0:24:16.960 --> 0:24:20.040 think the media has not done as good a job 0:24:20.040 --> 0:24:22.119 as they can when covering a lot of these cases 0:24:22.119 --> 0:24:25.000 of missing and murdered Indigenous people. I'm curious, do you 0:24:25.000 --> 0:24:27.920 see that also as just like you know, racism, plain 0:24:27.960 --> 0:24:29.840 and simple, definitely. 0:24:29.320 --> 0:24:32.639 Plain and simple, you know, like I was saying, it 0:24:32.840 --> 0:24:36.520 was more than just a young Indigenous woman who was 0:24:36.560 --> 0:24:42.800 pregnant and missing. It was racially motivated, and the resources 0:24:42.840 --> 0:24:46.760 that were offered, even within the court system itself, this 0:24:47.000 --> 0:24:50.120 was just horrendous of an act on a human being. 0:25:11.600 --> 0:25:14.480 One other, you know, interesting thing, and I mentioned this 0:25:14.520 --> 0:25:18.359 earlier when we were talking about water, is that many 0:25:18.359 --> 0:25:21.600