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    • MN Native News
    • Native Lights
      • Biidaapi
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    • DeCoded: Native Veterans Who Helped Win World War II
    • A Mile in My Moccasins
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    • Native Lights
      • Biidaapi
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      • COVID-19
      • Helpful Links about COVID19 in Minnesota
    • DeCoded: Native Veterans Who Helped Win World War II
    • A Mile in My Moccasins
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Elaine Fleming: Celebrating and Sharing the Culture of Leech Lake

Native Lights January 20, 2023

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.

Today 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. Elaine has immense gratitude and care for Leech Lake’s natural gifts. At the tribal college, she has taught through hands-on experiences rooted in Leech Lake history and tradition, including manoomin harvesting, historical theatre, and knowledge bowl. She teaches several subjects including Leech Lake history, Anishinaabe studies and Indigenous American Women. Elaine shares her journey to working at the tribal college, her experiences teaching the next generation, and how through teaching she is still learning.

Elaine is also an Army veteran; was the mayor of Cass Lake from 2003 to 2006; and is the host of the History of Leech Lake Show on KOJB Radio. Chi miigwech to Elaine for sharing with us!

Find the Leech Lake Tribal College online at: https://www.lltc.edu/

Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices Shine. Native Lights is produced by Minnesota Native News and Ampers with support from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage fund.

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More from Native Lights

  • Great-Grandmother Mary Lyons’ Gift for Sharing Indigenous Traditions & Spiritual Guidance (Revisited)
    On this week’s show, we revisit our conversation from June 2022 with Great-Grandmother Mary Lyons (Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe), a spiritual advisor, storyteller, activist, wisdom keeper, and revered elder. Mary Lyons is the founder of the Minnesota Coalition on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and serves as a counselor for the women’s sobriety group, which she also co-founded, called Women of Wellbriety International.
  • Rick Haaland: Speaking for the Animals
    Today, we’re excited to speak with Rick Haaland, an animal rescuer and advocate who is the Pets for Life community outreach manager for the Leech Lake Tribal Police.
  • David Wise: Growing Good Medicine
    We speak with David Wise, descendant of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and founder of Native Wise, a farm which is focused on soil health, restorative farming and Indigenous agricultural practices.
Previous Post: « Amber Annis: Nurturing & Protecting Authentic Narratives
Next Post: Levi Brown’s Gift for Building Relationships Across the Table »

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