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 talk with Great-Grandmother Mary Lyons (Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe) a spiritual advisor, storyteller, activist, wisdom keeper, and revered elder. Mary Lyons is the founder of the Minnesota Coalition on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and serves as a counselor for the women’s sobriety group, which she also co-founded, called Women of Wellbriety International.
Mary’s inspiring book, “Wisdom Lessons: Spirited Guidance from an Ojibwe Great-Grandmother,” was published in 2018, and delivers love and advice through stories and perspectives grounded in traditional Indigenous values.
Chi Miigwech to Mary Lyons for generously sharing traditional teachings, your wise approach to healing, and life-changing spiritual guidance.
Find Mary Lyons’ book here: https://birchbarkbooks.com/products/wisdom-lessons
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
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- Barb Fabre’s Gift for Empowering Native Families and ChildrenShe talks about how culture leads the work she does and how Native teachings help empower, educate, and mentor Native families, children, and childcare providers. Barb has led numerous projects that aim to improve childcare systems throughout Indian country.
- Emma Needham’s Gift For Uplifting Indigenous PerspectivesWe talk with Emma about the impacts of environmental issues locally and nationally, and how caring about those issues led her on her journey of storytelling. Emma co-hosts and reports on Indigenous issues as a part of Native Roots Radio’s daily radio show “I’m Awake” and for us at Minnesota Native News.
- Darek DeLille’s Gift for Building Up Community & Audio ArtsOn today’s show, we talk with Darek Delille (Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa/Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa), Artistic Producer at New Native Theatre, community organizer, musician and audio artist. Darek now lives in Southeast Minneapolis after living on Fond du Lac for many years.
- Filmmaker Khayman Goodsky’s Gift for Visual Storytelling and CollaborationToday, a lively conversation with Khayman Goodsky (Bois Forte Band of Chippewa) a Duluth filmmaker. Khayman tells about how she first found her path, her love of comic books and cosplay, and how she enjoys the whole collaboration process.