One,

One Hello, everyone, and you're listening to Let's Get Dark. It's just me today. Just me. How are you all doing? Thank you so much for listening and joining us. I think we've gotten some new listeners in the past few months. so hello everyone. Welcome. Let's get going.

So we've discussed the disproportionate rate that indigenous women, girls, men, and boys go missing

and are murdered in the past, but there are certain facts that I believe bear repeating.

Indigenous peoples are murdered and go missing at a higher

rate than other groups for various layered reasons, but the root causes are colonialism,

racism, and sexual objectification. Let me introduce you friends to the patriarchy. According to the

Minnesota Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Task Force, when it comes to colonization and historical trauma, the practice of European colonizers sexually victimizing indigenous women and girls as part of the process of quote-unquote patriotic conquest is a major part of American history.

Forcibly removing indigenous children from their families and placing them in boarding schools

and the child welfare system, along with the abuse of tactics used to ensure the children did not speak their indigenous languages or practice their cultural traditions,

damaged indigenous family structure, and contributed to patterns of normalized violence for

indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people. Due to the impacts of colonization,

such as more frequent involvement in systems such as child protection and criminal justice,

indigenous people are at a higher risk of violence and exploitation. In regard to racism, deep-rooted

racism and stereotypes of indigenous women are primary causes of the unequal response in Minnesota

when an indigenous woman, girl, or a two-spirit person goes missing or experiences violence

compared to the response that is mobilized when a white woman or girl

is in the same situation. Obviously, this was from the Minnesota Task Force, so that's why it

references Minnesota, but I believe we could take that across the board to any state in North

America. Law enforcement response is not as swift or as thorough. The court

system may not prosecute or fairly sentenced perpetrators for crimes committed against indigenous

women. Other systems, such as education and health care, are not culturally responsive. These

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