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 musician Beth Ann Dodds, a first-generation descendant of the White Earth Nation. Beth Ann is the Project Coordinator for the Indigenous Parent Leadership Initiative, a training program from the Native-led organization, Indigenous Visioning. The program guides parents from White Earth Nation and Red Lake Nation to become leading advocates for children using a cultural lens.
We hear how Beth Ann’s own path brought her to her current work. When her music and life partner, Bruce Jackson, received a terminal diagnosis, the couple embraced self-love and reflection throughout his remaining years. After his passing, Beth Ann sought the quiet of the North woods was inspired to learn more about her Ojibwe culture.
Now, through her role with the Indigenous Parent Leadership Initiative, a 21-week course for parents that integrates child development, leadership, democracy skills, and Ojibwe culture, Beth Ann is helping others to find, claim, and powerfully use their voices. Miigwech Beth Ann for your sharing your gifts!
Learn more about the Indigenous Parent Leadership Initiative on Facebook or go online to: https://www.indigenousvisioning.com/
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.
Subscribe to Native Lights wherever you get your podcasts
More from Native Lights
- Rebekah Fineday’s Gift for Building Trust in Healthcare Systems & Native CommunitiesToday, we’re speaking with Rebekah Fineday, a Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe citizen and Air Force veteran who serves as Sanford Health’s Native American community advocate in Bemidji, Minnesota.
- Levi Brown’s Gift for Building Relationships Across the TableToday we’re speaking with Levi Brown, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe citizen and Director of Tribal Affairs at the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDot). Levi talks with Leah and Cole about acknowledgement on a person-to-person level and on an institutional level. In his current position at MnDot, Levi helped facilitate the highway signs marking the 1854 Treaty boundaries in Northern MN, a step toward acknowledgment and a point of education. Levi is also a part of the Tribal State Relationship Training Program that helps develop collaboration and understanding between tribes and Minnesota state departments.
- Elaine Fleming: Celebrating and Sharing the Culture of Leech LakeToday Leah and Cole chat with Elaine Fleming. She teaches and preserves Leech Lake Ojibwe culture, history, and language. Elaine proudly lives in Cass Lake, where she has been an instructor at Leech Lake Tribal College for 29 years.
- Amber Annis: Nurturing & Protecting Authentic NarrativesToday Leah and Cole chat with Amber Annis, a Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe citizen who is currently the director of Native American Initiative at the Minnesota Historical Society. Amber has a long history not only as a public historian, but as an educator, tribal nation liaison, community engagement specialist and collaborator.
- Jada Brown: Expression and Affirmation Through SingingNative 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. …