As red sand filled the cracks along the sidewalks in front of the Electa Quinney Institute for American Indian Education on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus, community members stood in quiet solidarity as drums beat.
The pouring of red sand marked another year of remembrance and healing for missing and murdered Indigenous women and relatives, referred to as MMIWR.
The symbolic act of pouring sand was part of the HIR Wellness Institute’s ninth annual Community Activated Medicine & Red Sand Events on Nov. 14.
The Electa Quinney Institute was founded in 2010 to support the Native American community on campus.
Started in 2017, the event has provided a sacred space for community grief and collective healing in honor of MMIWR through art, storytelling and community care.
Each year, the HIR Wellness Institute collaborates with the Red Sand Project to host the event. The Red Sand Project was designed to raise public awareness about human trafficking and modern slavery, using the red sand to represent those who have fallen through systemic cracks.
A person walks down a path in between posters that have statistics about missing and murdered Indigenous women. One poster stated that 45.6% of American Indians/Alaska Native women in Wisconsin have experienced sexual violence.
Analia Ninham, a member of Daughters of Tradition, an Indigenous youth group at the HIR Wellness Institute, offers attendees a cleansing sage.
Malia Chow blows into a conch shell in all four cardinal directions as part of a Native Hawaiian tradition.
The RedNationBoyz, a Milwaukee-based youth and community drum group, performs.
Marla Mahkimetas, a Menominee water educator and artist, speaks about losing her daughter-in-law to human trafficking and her family’s healing journey since.
“Trauma is not a life sentence.”
Marla Mahkimetas
Dr. Jeneile Luebke, an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing, speaks to attendees about her research on gender-based violence in the Indigenous community.
“We got to cry and say her name.”
Malia Chow
Malia Chow, community healer with the HIR Wellness Institute, speaks about losing her twin sister to violence.
Shanna Hickman and her daughter, Ziraya Sunn, listen to a woman tell the story of how their sister was killed due to domestic violence.Hanna Jennings, an intern with the HIR Wellness Institute, hands out a bag containing red sand, tissues and community resources.The RedNationBoyz, led by one of the founders, Isiah Nahwahquaw (second from left), performs.
Monique Valentine writes the name Anacaona, a ruler of Jaragua (modern day Haiti), who was executed by the Spanish in 1503 and has become a symbol of Indigenous resistance.
Flower Harms pours red sand from the Red Sand Project, which was started by Molly Gochman in 2014 to bring awareness to human trafficking and modern slavery.
Red sand fills a crack during the ninth annual Community Activated Medicine & Red Sands Event.Rachel Fernandez, co-chair of the Wisconsin Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Relatives Task Force, pours red sand along a crack in the sidewalk.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
Angel Perez, 65, has been fishing the waters of Milwaukee for more than 25 years. Everyday during his breaks from work at the Harley-Davidson Museum, he comes down to his fishing spot underneath the Sixth Street Viaduct and casts away. One day, Perez caught seven bluegills in the Menomonee River. Perez says that everyone needs to have something to help them relax, and for him, it’s fishing.
Perez said he was introduced to fishing early in his life by several mentors while growing up in the Wrigleyville neighborhood in Chicago. Now, Perez hopes to be a mentor for kids in Milwaukee, and that’s why in 2026 he plans on starting a camp called Urban Fishing with Angel.
Perez walks to a fishing spot on the north side of the Harley-Davidson Museum.
Perez baits his hook before fishing the Menomonee River, where he hopes to catch trout, bass, bluegill and even salmon as they make their run.
Perez wears polarized sunglasses to help him see fish better in the Menomonee River.
Perez shows the bait and hook setup that he primarily uses while urban fishing.
A bluegill is pulled out of the Menomonee River by Perez.
Perez reflects on his love for fishing as he casts out.
“It kept me out of trouble, and I was always a sports guy. But fishing, something about it for me. I love it.”
Angel Perez
Perez poses for a portrait at his fishing spot on the north side of the Harley-Davidson Museum.
Perez inspects a bluegill that he caught in the Menomonee River in Milwaukee on Oct. 6. Perez has been urban fishing in Milwaukee for more than 25 years and says he has noticed that the fish in the river are looking much healthier than in the past.Perez shows a photograph of a fish he caught on the Menomonee River. Perez has caught large trout, bass and carp all within city limits.
Perez inspects a bluegill that he caught in the Menomonee River. Perez has noticed that the colors on the fish look more vibrant and no longer are covered in warts like they used to be in the past.
Perez removes a hook from the mouth of a bluegill. Perez usually catches and releases the fish that he reels in.
Perez catches a bluegill from the Menomonee River. Perez hopes to launch his urban fishing youth camp in 2026. His goal is to meet with students, provide rods and teach youth of Milwaukee how to fish in the hopes that they can feel more connected to nature.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
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