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, Leah and Cole chat with Marisa Miakonda Cummings (Umonhon). She’s the President/CEO of the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center. The MIWRC empowers Native women and families to exercise their cultural values and integrity, and to achieve sustainable lifeways, while advocating for justice and equity.
Marisa shares about her journey to becoming the CEO/President of MIWRC, she tells how her family empowered her from a young age, and how she leads with traditional knowledge in her work.
The MIWRC will soon hold its inaugural Red Dress Gala, the Gala is September 9, 2022. More information about the Gala and the MIWRC at https://www.miwrc.org/
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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We speak with Bobbi Jo Potter, a citizen of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa. She’s deputy director of Children and Family Services in Ramsey County and is a 2026 Bush Fellow working to keep Native families connected and make child welfare more about relationships and healing. - Budd Parker & Tim “Pete” Fairbanks: Restoring the Legacy of White Earth’s Forgotten Veterans
Today we’re joined by Budd Parker and Tim “Pete” Fairbanks. Budd is a Navy veteran and descendant of the White Earth Nation. He lives in Osage and was raised by grandparents who knew Civil War soldiers. He and his crew, including cousin Pete Fairbanks, dig through records. They clear forgotten cemeteries and set corrected headstones so families can hear their ancestors’ names again. Pete, an Army veteran, is also from the White Earth Nation, and he works with Budd to restore headstones and graveyards. - Alex Kmett: Culture as Curriculum, Language as Medium
Today, 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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