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.
On today’s show, we talk with Reuben Kitto Stately (Red Lake Nation and Santee Sioux Nation) who is a fourth-year student at Augsburg University and Dakota language learner. He’s also a musician and recording artist, known as Kitto.
Reuben shares how he discovered his passion for learning Dakhóta language, how he has dedicated himself to being a life-long learner, as his gift to share. He believes language is the key to reclaiming Indigenous culture, art, and identity. Reuben also traces his love of music back to falling asleep to drums on the Pow Wow trail as a baby. And he explains how Indigenous musicians inspired him to pursue music, tell his own authentic stories, find his own creative voice.
We loved Reuban’s enthusiasm for finding his roots, and for his wonderful vision for helping people reconnect and bring alive their Indigenous language, as the pathway to thriving long into the future.
Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices Shine is produced by Minnesota Native News and Ampers, Diverse Radio for Minnesota’s Communities with support from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage fund.
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More from Native Lights
- Rick Haaland: Speaking for the AnimalsToday, we’re excited to speak with Rick Haaland, an animal rescuer and advocate who is the Pets for Life community outreach manager for the Leech Lake Tribal Police.
- David Wise: Growing Good MedicineWe speak with David Wise, descendant of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and founder of Native Wise, a farm which is focused on soil health, restorative farming and Indigenous agricultural practices.
- Wendy Roy: Beading as HealingToday, we are excited to speak with Wendy Roy, a beader and entrepreneur from the White Earth Nation. She mentors other artists and also teaches at White Earth Tribal and Community College.