❌

Reading view

There are new articles available, click to refresh the page.

A sacred space for healing: Event honors missing and murdered Indigenous women and relatives

✇Wisconsin Watch
By: Jonathan Aguilar ／ Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service ／ CatchLight Local
A person kneels on pavement spreading red sand as others walk nearby in front of a brick building.
Reading Time: 2 minutes

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.

HIR Wellness, located at 3136 W. Kilbourn Ave., was founded in 2017 by Leah Denny, who serves as CEO. The organization provides a range of free mental health, wellness services and additional programming for the Indigenous community. The Electa Quinney Institute, where the event was held, was founded in 2010 to support the Native American community on campus at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

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 with a backpack walks on a wide concrete path scattered with flowers and posters while a small group of people sits at a table in the distance.
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.
A person holds a feather and a small bowl outdoors while other people are seated.
Analia Ninham, a member of Daughters of Tradition, an Indigenous youth group at the HIR Wellness Institute, offers attendees a cleansing sage.
A person wearing a patterned top and a feathered headpiece holds a microphone and blows into a large shell.
Malia Chow blows into a conch shell in all four cardinal directions as part of a Native Hawaiian tradition.
A person wearing a patterned wrap stands on a plaza near red sand shapes on the ground as people stand on steps in the background.
The RedNationBoyz, a Milwaukee-based youth and community drum group, performs.
A person wearing patterned clothing holds a microphone at an outdoor podium while people who are sitting watch.
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

People sit facing a person standing at a podium draped with a red cloth in front of a wall labeled "The Ernest Spaights Plaza."
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 

A person wearing a feathered headpiece speaks into a microphone at an outdoor podium draped with a red cloth while another person stands in the foreground.
Malia Chow, community healer with the HIR Wellness Institute, speaks about losing her twin sister to violence.
Two people stand close together outdoors, one with a hand near their face while the other leans in.
Shanna Hickman and her daughter, Ziraya Sunn, listen to a woman tell the story of how their sister was killed due to domestic violence.
A person wearing a yellow shirt hands small red bags to people seated in a row outdoors.
Hanna Jennings, an intern with the HIR Wellness Institute, hands out a bag containing red sand, tissues and community resources.
Four people stand outdoors, with three of them holding drums in their hands, while appearing to sing or chant.
The RedNationBoyz, led by one of the founders, Isiah Nahwahquaw (second from left), performs.
A person leans down on a sidewalk writing red text on the concrete while a bag rests nearby and others walk in the background.
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.
A tattooed hand pours red sand from a small packet along a crack in the concrete.
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.
Bright red sand fills a long crack in the concrete.
Red sand fills a crack during the ninth annual Community Activated Medicine & Red Sands Event.
A person wearing a long multicolored skirt and sunglasses pours red sand into a crack on a concrete plaza while others stand nearby.
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.

A sacred space for healing: Event honors missing and murdered Indigenous women and relatives is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Hooked on the city: Milwaukee’s Angel Perez finds solace in urban fishing

✇Wisconsin Watch
By: Jonathan Aguilar ／ Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service ／ CatchLight Local
A person wearing an orange shirt and cap fishes from the edge of a riverbank with bridges and buildings visible across the water.
Reading Time: 2 minutes

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.

A person wearing an orange shirt and jeans walks on a paved path surrounded by tall grass and plants under a bridge.
Perez walks to a fishing spot on the north side of the Harley-Davidson Museum.
A person wearing an orange shirt and silver bracelet holds a thread and a small container labeled "Gulp!"
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.
A person wearing a tan cap with a hook attached to the brim and reflective sunglasses resting on top
Perez wears polarized sunglasses to help him see fish better in the Menomonee River.
A person’s hand holds a fishing line with a small red object.
Perez shows the bait and hook setup that he primarily uses while urban fishing.
A fish breaks the water’s surface while hooked on a fishing line, creating ripples across the water.
A bluegill is pulled out of the Menomonee River by Perez.
A person wearing an orange shirt, cap and vest casts a fishing line over water.
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

A person wearing an orange shirt and jeans stands near water while holding a fishing rod with buildings in the background.
Perez poses for a portrait at his fishing spot on the north side of the Harley-Davidson Museum.
A person wearing an orange shirt and cap holds a small fish while standing near water with buildings in the background.
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.
A person wearing an orange shirt and cap holds up a phone displaying a photo of a fish while standing near water with a bridge in the background.
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.
A person's hands holds a small fish with green and yellow scales.
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.
The hands of a person wearing an orange shirt and bracelets hold an object.
Perez removes a hook from the mouth of a bluegill. Perez usually catches and releases the fish that he reels in.
A person wearing an orange shirt and vest releases a small fish back into the water near a bridge and buildings.
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.

Hooked on the city: Milwaukee’s Angel Perez finds solace in urban fishing is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

❌