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.
On today’s show, we talk with Baabiitaw Boyd (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe) who is is the Mille Lacs Band’s Deputy Commissioner on language revitalization initiatives. Her work includes the Anjibimaadizing program, which has developed a partnership with Rosetta Stone and published five Ojibwemowin books of stories collected from first speakers. Baabiitaw Boyd was also awarded a Bush Leadership Fellowship in 2017.
In our conversation, Baabiitaw shares her path of awakening to her purpose: helping to revitalize the Ojibwemowin language for the benefit of the larger community. We are inspired by Baabiitaw’s motivation and enthusiasm for learning her ancestral language and the wisdom it carries. We appreciate Baabiitaw’s deep passion for helping others learn and speak Ojibwemowin, and her efforts to change both habits and systems, to better support and sustain the gifts of our Ojibwe culture.
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. Online at https://minnesotanativenews.org/
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More from Native Lights
- Bradley Harrington: The United States 250th Anniversary from an Anishinaabe Perspective
On this episode Leah and Cole speak with Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe citizen Bradley Harrington who recently penned an article in the Mille Lacs Band newspaper, Ojibwe Inaajimowin, about 250 years of US occupation as the country marks the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. - Dr. Samantha Majhor: The Story Collector
Today, we’re excited to welcome Dr. Samantha Majhor to Native Lights. Samantha is a direct descendant of Fort Peck. She’s Dakota and Assiniboine and is an assistant professor in American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota. She focuses on Native American literature, particularly literature by Dakota and Ojibwe writers around the Great Lakes region. - Aleyna Morales: Baking and Believing in Herself
Today, we’re speaking with Aleyna Morales. Aleyna grew up in the Twin Cities and Somerset, Wisconsin. Aleyna’s heritage includes Ojibwe from the Fond du Lac Band community and Mexican. She is the creator and baker behind Baked to Bliss by Laney. You can catch her selling baked goods at the Carlton County Farmers Market.
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