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.
Today, we’re speaking with Rebekah Fineday, a Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe citizen and Air Force veteran who serves as Sanford Health’s Native American community advocate in Bemidji, Minnesota. She is also a Registered Nurse and has worked at Indian Health Service (IHS) in Cass Lake and Red Lake for more than a decade. Through her work, she’s been advocating to improve health care in Native American communities which include community-minded patient relations, building relationships with other tribal health groups, and in-person patient advocacy.
She shares a little about her time in the Air Force, working in Indian Health Services, and the importance of community and culture in the health care system. Miigwech to Rebekah for sharing about what has led her along the path of advocating for Native Americans in Healthcare systems!
Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices Shine. Native Lights is produced by Minnesota Native News and Ampers with support from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage fund.
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More from Native Lights
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Today, we welcome Carl Gawboy to the Native Lights podcast. Carl, born to a Finnish mother and an Ojibwe father, was raised in Ely and is a member of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe. Carl is an artist, whose primary medium is watercolors. But he turned to pen and ink for his recent graphic book Fur Trade Nation: An Ojibwe’s Graphic History. - Janis A. Fairbanks: Lessons Learned and Memories of Her Ojibwe Grandma
Today, we are excited to welcome Janis A. Fairbanks to Native Lights. Janis is a member of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. She recently released a book called Sugar Bush Babies: Stories of My Ojibwe Grandmother, a memoir in lessons learned from her grandmother during the era of Indian Relocation. - Wookiye Win: Digging for Artistic Inspiration (And Watercolor Pigments) in Nature
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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