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 we hear from Elizabeth Day (Leech Lake Ojibwe) with the Native American Community Development Institute (NACDI). She’s the Community Engagement Programs Manager at NACDI focusing on healthy access that includes the Four Sisters Farmers Market and Make Voting a Tradition, a year-round voter mobilization program. Elizabeth views herself as a public servant, supporting the community through her work at NACDI as well as creating short films with traditional Ojibwe storytelling using contemporary filmmaking techniques. Currently, she lives in Twin Cities.
Elizabeth talks with Leah and Cole about the importance of voting in Native communities, the upcoming Supreme Court case challenging The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), navigating grant-writing, her work as a filmmaker, and how her love for family and community helps her in her journey. Chi-Miigwech to Elizabeth for sharing with us today!
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
- Thomasina TopBear: Empowering Community Through ArtShe specializes in large-scale murals; her work can be seen on the sides of buildings throughout the Twin Cities and the country.
- Tabitha Chilton’s Gift for Building Access & Trust in Healthcare SystemsLeah and Cole chat with Tabitha Chilton, a White Earth Nation member who serves as Sanford Health’s Native American patient advocate in Bemidji, Minnesota. Tabitha’s focus on outpatient care at the Joe Lueken Cancer Center helps Native communities access healthcare throughout Northern Minnesota
- Jewell Arcoren: Healing With Language and The Next GenerationJewell is a community activist and the Executive Director for Wicoie Nandagikendan, an Ojibwe and Dakota language immersion preschool in Minneapolis. There, she pursues her commitments to early childhood education, language revitalization and addressing intergenerational historical trauma.
- Sasheen Goslin & Deanna Reder Bring Their Distinct Abilities to the Team at AICHOSasheen Goslin and Deanna Reder from the American Indian Community Housing Organization (AICHO) in Duluth. They are two members of the small team at AICHO that is dedicated to all aspects of wellness for the Indigenous communities in Duluth.
- Annie Humphrey’s Gift for Living With Care and EmpathyAnnie talks about her latest album Eat What You Kill, building a hemp house, and the upcoming benefit show for the American Indian Community Housing Organization (AICHO)’s Dabinoo’Igan Domestic Violence Shelter expansion.