Association of Minnesota Public Educational Radio Stations

Native Lights

Native Lights is a weekly, podcast and 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.

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Nikki Love (Pieratos): Keeping Relatives and Neighbors Safe in Uncertain Times

Native Lights

Today, we are honored to welcome Nikki Love (Pieratos) to the Native Lights podcast. An enrolled citizen of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, Nikki is the executive director of the Tiwahe Foundation, which is a community organization serving Native people around Minnesota. She’s also a part of the Metro Urban Indian Directors. Nikki shares her insight on what keeps her grounded and how keeping a prayerful attitude and a focus on the present helps keeps her from dwelling in fear and negativity.

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Robert Lilligren: the Native community responds to Minneapolis ICE operations

Native Lights

Today, we bring you a special edition of Native Lights. We’re talking with Robert Lilligren, CEO of the Native American Community Development Institute, which is based in Minneapolis. He is also a White Earth citizen.

Robert discusses the unprecedented deployment of some 2,000 ICE and Border Patrol agents to Minneapolis, how that has impacted the Native community, and what Indigenous leaders and organizations are doing to educate and protect the community.

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Victoria Marie: Learning to Surrender

Native Lights

Today, we’re excited to present Victoria Marie, an enrolled tribal member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate. She’s the founder and owner of Indigenous Lotus, a wellness program that combines yoga classes, tribal dance, exercise and meditation with an emphasis on helping people cope with stress and trauma. Those stressors can include PTSD, homelessness, sexual exploitation and poverty.

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Cole Redhorse Taylor: Creating Contemporary Work Through Connection to Traditional Art Forms

Native Lights

Today, we’re excited to welcome Cole Redhorse Taylor to the Native Lights podcast. Cole is Mdewakanton Dakota and a member of the Prairie Island Indian Community. He’s an artist, and has worked in many mediums: drawing, painting, beadwork, quill work, hockey helmets. He’s created contemporary and traditional pieces heavily inspired by the artwork of his ancestors. And of course, if you’re a sports fan, you may have seen his collaborations with the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Minnesota Wild.

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Wookiye Win: Digging for Artistic Inspiration (And Watercolor Pigments) in Nature

Native Lights

Today, we’re thrilled to speak with Wookiye Win. Wookiye Win, Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, is an artist and educator. She teaches the Dakota language for the Dakota Language Nest Preschool program at the Institute of Child Development on the University of Minnesota campus. She’s also the illustrator of Dakota language children’s books.

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Penny Kagigebi: Reclaiming Two Spirit Culture Through Art

Native Lights

On this episode of Native Lights, Leah speaks with Penny Kagigebi. Penny is a direct descendant of the White Earth Nation. She is a Two Spirit queer community collaborator, artist, curator and teacher. She focuses on birch bark basketry and quill boxes and recently curated Queering Indigeneity for the Minnesota Museum of American Art, on exhibit from September 18, 2025 to August 16, 2026. 

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