Association of Minnesota Public Educational Radio Stations

A Gift for Storytelling with Hope Flanagan

Native Lights

Today we speak with Hope Flanagan (Seneca) a Native elder, a storyteller, teacher of plants and wild plant gathering.  All through her life, Hope Flanagan shares stories of Native culture, traditions and connecting with nature, and all the healing and mystery it offers.  For more than a decade, Hope Flanagan taught in an Ojibwe immersion classroom, and before that, she was a storyteller at Minneapolis Public Schools in drug and alcohol prevention. Now Hope works at Dream of Wild Health as a community outreach and culture teacher.

Settle in and enjoy this delightful conversation with Hope Flanagan as she enthusiastically shares stories and life lessons.  Find out some ways our communities continue to share in storytelling during the pandemic.  Learn why many Ojibwe stories can only be told when the snow is on the ground. And hear how Hope is always on the lookout for the next generation of storytellers who will carry on this ancient tradition. Chi-Miigwech to Hope Flanagan for sharing her rich gift of storytelling with all of us!

Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices Shine is produced by Minnesota Native News and Ampers, Diverse Radio for Minnesota’s Communities with support from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage fund

Native Lights is a weekly, half-hour radio program hosted by Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe members and siblings, Leah Lemm and Cole Premo. Native Lights is a space for people in Native communities around Mni Sota Mkoce — a.k.a. Minnesota — to tell their stories about finding their gifts and sharing them with the community.

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