Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices Shine
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.
On today’s show, we turn the microphone on each other! No guest today… instead, we ask each other some questions about our own purpose and passions, starting with music. Cole tells some stories about discovering his love for making music and the many mentors who helped him on his path. Leah shares a sweet story of her first solo singing performance in kindergarten, and how she is passing her passion along to her son.
Most of all, we love hosting this podcast and getting the honor of amplifying Native Voices, meeting new people, and hearing how community members are uncovering their gifts and living their purpose.
Would you or someone you know be a great guest on Native Lights? Drop us line at: nativelights@ampers.org.
Check out Cole Premo music here: https://soundcloud.com/cole-e-premo
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.
Subscribe to Native Lights wherever you get your podcasts
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- Alex Kmett: Culture as Curriculum, Language as MediumToday, we’re speaking with language revitalization leader and cultural educator Alex Kmett. Alex is a citizen of the Red Lake Nation and a descendant of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. He’s a 2026 Bush Fellow and a co-founder of a charter school in Red Lake Nation.
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- Michael Kurtz: Tales of a Wildlife PhotographerOur guest today is a photographer who takes some stunning photos of wildlife. We’re very excited to speak with Michael Kurtz (Tasunka Opi). He’s Sicangu Lakota, enrolled in the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe. He runs Lakota Photography, blending wildlife photography, tracking, and cultural education. He’s also a naturalist and has volunteered with groups like the National Park Service and Project Coyote. He has spent countless hours across the Dakotas, Minnesota, and beyond, capturing wildlife in its natural habitat. Currently, he’s supervisor of programming and interpretation with Hoċokata Ṫi Cultural Center at the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux community.
- Kent Estey: The Art of SurvivalOn this episode, we speak with contemporary artist and White Earth Nation citizen Kent Estey. Kent paints at his home studio in Naytahwaush, in the heart of the White Earth Reservation. He’s known for really bold abstract landscapes, acrylic, oil, ink, and metal. He’s also an author. In 2025, he released the children’s book Picking Sweetgrass. His latest exhibit, “Mino-Bimaadiziwin: The Good Life” runs through Labor Day weekend in Detroit Lakes.
- Rafael Gonzalez, aka, Tufawon: How a Minneapolis Rap Artist Learned How to Sing and Make a DifferenceWe are very excited to speak with Rafael Gonzalez, aka, Tufawon. He is a Mdewakanton Dakota and Boricua (Puerto Rican). He’s a rapper, singer-songwriter, and producer who calls South Minneapolis home. In addition to his music making, he’s an educator. He teaches youth music production, songwriting, and recording through his music production program “.WAVWARRIOR”.


Being a Good Relative in Complicated Times