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 …
Native Lights
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 …