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 Bradley Harrington (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe) who is an entrepreneur, owner of Wenji-bimaadizing Media, and is currently the Tribal Liaison for the State of Minnesota’s Department of Natural Resources.
Bradley is more than ten years sober and explains why he says, “sobriety is an act of Indigenous Resistance.” He tells us about being incarcerated multiple times, and how he finally broke the pattern when he decided to accept treatment, while incorporating Anishinaabe traditional knowledge, history, and language aspects into it.
We loved hearing Bradley’s honest and encouraging story of healing and how his Spiritual path led to him becoming a tribal pipe carrier. Chi Miigwech Bradley, for all you do, including sharing your passion for teaching Ojibwemowin in fun and engaging ways on social media!
Wenji-bimaadizing Media website https://www.wenji-bimaadizingmedia.com/
Here’s an explainer about Midewiwin ceremonies:
Bradley’s Facebook language page: https://www.facebook.com/WenjibimaadizingMedia
Bradley’s MNsure video in Ojibwemowin:
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.
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In this week’s show Leah and Cole are live from the Minnesota State Fair with two great guests. We discuss Native representation at the fair and beyond. Our first guest today is Andy Vig! Andy is an enrolled member of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, who is the director of SMSC’s community center, called Hoċokata Ti, which opened in 2019. We also catch up with Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan (White Earth Band of Ojibwe), who appeared on our first State Fair show back in 2019. - Jamie Becker-Finn’s Path to Bringing Community Together
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Two Opportunities to Get Inspired