Today’s conversation is with Ashley Fairbanks, an Anishinaabe artist, organizer, designer, and digital strategist, and the Creative Director for the 100% Campaign. She shares about growing up in South Minneapolis with a large and loving Ojibwe family. And she shares how she found her voice and harnessed her power, for politics and activism through bold and vulnerable sharing on social media.
Native Lights
Sharing Gifts Through Story: Native Lights Podcast
Leah Lemm talks to educators at SouthWest Metro Intermediate District 288 about sharing Native voices in Minnesota.
Gifts of Culture & Storytelling with Deanna StandingCloud
Today’s conversation is with Deanna StandingCloud (Red Lake Anishinaabe) who is a mom, playwright, organizer, artist, community leader, pow-wow emcee, and advocate for Indigenous people.
Gifts of Culture & Storytelling with Deanna StandingCloudRead More
Dalton Walker’s Gift for Sharing Stories
Today’s conversation features Dalton Walker (Red Lake Anishinaabe) who is a National Correspondent, for Indian Country Today. Dalton Walker shares how he followed his teenage dreams of expanding on the kind of coverage he would see in newspapers about Native people.
A Gift for Numbers with Daniel Lemm
Today’s conversation features Daniel Lemm (Lower Sioux Indian Community) who is the Chief Financial Officer at the Charles K. Blandin Foundation, in addition to being Leah’s spouse. Daniel Lemm shares how his love of numbers led to his career in philanthropy, helping get resources out into communities and in a good way.
Listen to Native Lights Season 2
In Native Lights, people in Native communities around Mni Sota Mkoce – a.k.a. Minnesota – tell their stories about finding their gifts and sharing them with the community. These are stories of joy, strength, history, and change from Native people who are shaping the future and honoring those who came before them.
Listen to Native Lights Season 1
Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices Shine | In Native Lights, people in Native communities around Mni Sota Mkoce – a.k.a. Minnesota – tell their stories about finding their gifts and sharing them with the community. These are stories of joy, strength, history, and change from Native people who are shaping the future and honoring those who …
Celebrating Accomplished Artists
We round out Season 2 of our Native Lights podcast by exploring the cultural influences that have shaped the work of two celebrated and accomplished Native artists. Chaz Wagner (Bois Forte Ojibwe) is a musician, singer, traditional drummer, and co-leader of the Native American rock band, War Bonnet, which was nominated for two 2019 Native …
Building Supportive Environments
In this episode, two stories highlight significant work to build supportive environments for Native people to heal and thrive. Kwe Pack is a spectacular group of Native women supporting each other to run long-distance trail races. Kwe Pack has been featured on Good Morning America, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and Oprah Winfrey’s World Vision Tour. This …
Two Visionaries, One Project
The program explores the unstoppable power when two visionaries come together to bring a special project to life. We meet Deb Foster (Ojibwe), the Executive Director of Ain Dah Yung and Mike Laverdure (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians in North Dakota), a partner with DSGW Architects. Deb Foster and Mike Laverdure both played leading …
Honest Portrayals of Native People
This episode explores work being done towards authentically and accurately representing Native people, communities, and our stories. Rebecca Crooks Stratton (Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community) is the Secretary/Treasurer of her tribe, and now she leads “Understand Native Minnesota,” an ambitious campaign to support Native American narrative change in Minnesota’s K-12 education system, as a way to …
Cultivating a Gift for Healing
Respected Anishinaabe elder and well-known physician, Dr. Arne Vainio (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe) tells the story of how he became one of only 3,400 Native physicians in the United States. He is currently a family physician at the Fond du Lac tribal clinic. His story is about class divisions, lateral violence, and the unwavering …