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 …
Native Lights
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 …
Bringing in New Life
We kick off our new season of Native Lights podcast with a story from Mnicoujou [mini-co-jew] Lakota doula, Takayla Lightfield. She stands side-by-side with Native women supporting the birth of the next generation. Takayla Lightfield (Mnicoujou Lakota, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of South Dakota), is a self-employed doula who also works at the Division of …