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, Leah and Cole speak with Thomas Draskovic, a citizen of the Standing Rock Reservation in South Dakota who is an educator, actor, musician, artist and activist.
Thomas has worked in the Twin Cities Native community in both schools and nonprofits for over 20 years, and for the past 16 years he’s been at the American Indian Magnet School in East St. Paul as the Lakota Language and Cultural Specialist.
He shares with us how storytelling and authenticity are crucial in his approach to teaching. He also explains why his mother, a master linguist, inspires his passion for educating youth and his strength to “do something” out in the world.
In addition to his work teaching, Thomas also plays guitar and sings in the band Pretendians, featured as part of a previous Native Lights episode. He talks with us more about the meaning behind the name and how it brings about discussion.
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On this episode Leah and Cole speak with Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe citizen Bradley Harrington who recently penned an article in the Mille Lacs Band newspaper, Ojibwe Inaajimowin, about 250 years of US occupation as the country marks the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. - Dr. Samantha Majhor: The Story Collector
Today, we’re excited to welcome Dr. Samantha Majhor to Native Lights. Samantha is a direct descendant of Fort Peck. She’s Dakota and Assiniboine and is an assistant professor in American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota. She focuses on Native American literature, particularly literature by Dakota and Ojibwe writers around the Great Lakes region. - Aleyna Morales: Baking and Believing in Herself
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