Tony Drews: Capturing Excitement for Native Culture and Language Through Games  

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 chat with Tony Drews (first-generation direct descendent of Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe), a lifelong student of Ojibwe culture and language. 

As president and founder of Nashke Native Games, Drews talks about his background in education and how he has found ways to better engage Native students in their culture. Through these native games, Drews describes how he’s capturing excitement in students and how the games teach not only language, but the meaning and history behind the words. 

Drews is also the program coordinator for the American Indian Family Empowerment Fund at the Tiwahe Foundation. 

Miigwech, Tony, for sharing your story!

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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