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/
Subscribe to Native Lights wherever you get your podcasts
More from Native Lights
- Brandon Baity: Executive Director of the Indigenous AssociationBrandon Baity is Anishinaabe and a descendant of the White Earth Nation. He grew up in Brooklyn Park, MN and currently lives in Moorhead, MN with his 3 children, partner, and mother-in-law. He graduated with a degree in social work from the College of Saint Scholastica in 2013. After graduation he worked as a youth …
- Bryce Premo: Exploring Social Work FrontiersBryce Premo is a Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe citizen and brother of Native Lights hosts Leah Lemm and Cole Premo. Bryce on the cusp of an exciting transition in his career. With a bachelor’s degree in social work almost under his belt and poised to pursue a master’s degree in the same field, Bryce …
- Ruth Buffalo: Empowering Indigenous Communities as the new CEO of MIWRCRuth Buffalo is a citizen of the Mandan Hidatsa Arikara Nation and a descendant of the Chiricahua Apache. She has served on advisory councils focused on women’s health, women’s leadership development and local food systems. She is board President for the National Native Boarding School Healing Coalition. She is also the former board president of …