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
- 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.
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