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.
Subscribe to Native Lights wherever you get your podcasts
More from Native Lights
- Alexandera Houchin: Life on Two Wheels
Today, we’re very excited to Welcome Alexandera Houchin to the Native Lights podcast. Alexandera is a citizen of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (Ojibwe). She resides in her reservation community in northern Minnesota. She’s an ultra racer, bike packer, mountain biker, outdoor adventurer, storyteller, and writer. And she is currently working on her memoir for Penguin Random House and is the subject of a documentary. - 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.
Amber Annis: Nurturing & Protecting Authentic Narratives