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.
Leah and Cole chat with artist Sam Zimmerman (Grand Portage). After two decades on the east coast in public education, Sam moved back to Minnesota to rededicate himself to his passion for painting and to be closer to his family and community.
His artwork explores his Ojibwe heritage, as well as his learnings and experiences in nature after returning to his ancestral homelands. Sam shares about learning language and culture through community collaborations, illustrating books for Native authors, and collaborating with family. He tells Leah and Cole about his path, which began with a college-age passion for painting, and then a love for teaching, and has now come full circle as he returns home.
Sam also discusses his experience venturing into watercolor painting for the first time, which is showcased in his latest gallery exhibition titled “Indigenous Expressions Love Culture and Reinvention” at the American Indian Community Housing Organization (AICHO). This exhibition is a collaborative effort with author and illustrator Tashia Hart, as well as bead artist Chenoa Williams.
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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Today, we’re excited to welcome Dr. Antony Stately to Native Lights. Antony Stately is a transformative leader dedicated to health equity in Indigenous communities. He’s enrolled with the Oneida Nation, and he’s a descendant of both the Red Lake and White Earth nations here in Minnesota, and he has two sons. He’s currently the Executive Officer and President for the Native American Community Clinic in South Minneapolis, providing primary care, dental care and behavioral health services to the Native American community in the Twin Cities. - Gary Farmer: Living Life on Screen for 50 Years
Today, we’re excited to be joined by one of the most recognizable faces in Indigenous film. Gary Farmer is from the Cayuga Nation and has a long career in movies and TV, and he’s a musician, performing with his group Gary Farmer & The Troublemakers. - David Amitrano: Witnessing
Today, Leah speaks with David Amitrano, the owner of Midwest All-Star Wrestling, a Minnesota-based, Native-owned independent wrestling organization in Woodbury.
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