Association of Minnesota Public Educational Radio Stations

Reuben Kitto Stately’s Gift for Reclaiming Dakota Roots through Language and Music

Native Lights

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. 

KITTO · 13 Dear My Future Son

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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