PODCAST · society
Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices Shine
by Minnesota Native News
In Native Lights, people in Native communities around Mni Sota Mkoce - a.k.a. Minnesota - tell their stories about finding their gifts and sharing them with the community. These are stories of joy, strength, history, and change from Native people who are shaping the future and honoring those who came before them. Native Lights is also 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.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. Online at https://minnesotanativenews.org/
Episodes
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Alex Kmett: Culture as Curriculum, Language as Medium
Today, we're speaking with language revitalization leader and cultural educator Alex Kmett. Alex is a citizen of the Red Lake Nation and a descendant of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. He's a 2026 Bush Fellow and a co-founder of a charter school in Red Lake Nation. Alex says he was lucky to have...
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Ryan Dixon: Making Friends with the Dakota Language
Today, we're speaking with Ryan Dixon. Ryan is an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota Tribe from Pine Ridge in South Dakota and has spent over two decades immersed in the Lower Sioux community in southern Minnesota. He trained under First Language Dakota speakers, and he now teaches Dakota. An...
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Michael Kurtz: Tales of a Wildlife Photographer
Our guest today is a photographer who takes some stunning photos of wildlife. We're very excited to speak with Michael Kurtz (Tasunka Opi). He's Sicangu Lakota, enrolled in the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe. He runs Lakota Photography, blending wildlife photography, tracking, and cultural education.…
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Kent Estey: The Art of Survival
On this episode, we speak with contemporary artist and White Earth Nation citizen Kent Estey. Kent paints at his home studio in Naytahwaush, in the heart of the White Earth Reservation. He's known for really bold abstract landscapes, acrylic, oil, ink, and metal. He’s also an author. In 2025, he...
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Rafael Gonzalez, aka, Tufawon: How a Minneapolis Rap Artist Learned How to Sing and Make a Difference
We are very excited to speak with Rafael Gonzalez, aka, Tufawon. He is a Mdewakanton Dakota and Boricua (Puerto Rican). He's a rapper, singer-songwriter, and producer who calls South Minneapolis home. In addition to his music making, he's an educator. He teaches youth music production…
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Alexandera Houchin: Life on Two Wheels
Today, we're very excited to Welcome Alexandera Houchin to the Native Lights podcast. Alexandera is a citizen of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (Ojibwe). She resides in her reservation community in northern Minnesota. She's an ultra racer, bike packer, mountain biker, outdoor...
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Bradley Harrington: The United States 250th Anniversary from an Anishinaabe Perspective
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…
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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...
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Aleyna Morales: Baking and Believing in Herself
Today, we're speaking with Aleyna Morales. Aleyna grew up in the Twin Cities and Somerset, Wisconsin. Aleyna's heritage includes Ojibwe from the Fond du Lac Band community and Mexican. She is the creator and baker behind Baked to Bliss by Laney. You can catch her selling baked goods at the…
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Adam Savariego: The Power of Asking Questions
We're excited today to speak with Adam Savariego. He's a citizen of the Upper Sioux Community and is the Native American Affairs Advisor with the Minnesota Governor's Office. Prior to his current work, Adam served on the Upper Sioux Board of Trustees and as the community cultural liaison at…
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Dr. Antony Stately: Building Health Equity in Indigenous Communities
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…
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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. Among his screen credits are Smoke Signals…
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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. He is originally from Ely, Minnesota and is a citizen of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa. He and wife Brittney have four kids at home.…
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Nikki Love (Pieratos): Keeping Relatives and Neighbors Safe in Uncertain Times
Today, we welcome Nikki Love Pieratos to Native Lights. An enrolled citizen of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, Nikki is the Executive Director of the Tiwahe Foundation, a community organization serving Native people around Minnesota. She’s also a part of the Metropolitan Urban Indian Directors...
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Robert Lilligren: The Native Community Responds to Minneapolis ICE Operations
Today, we have a special edition of Native Lights to share with you. We’re talking with Robert Lilligren, CEO of the Native American Community Development Institute, which is based in Minneapolis. He is also a White Earth citizen. Robert discusses the unprecedented deployment of some 2,000 ICE…
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Victoria Marie: Learning to Surrender
Today, we’re excited to present Victoria Marie, an enrolled tribal member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate. She's the founder and owner of Indigenous Lotus, a wellness program that combines yoga classes, tribal dance, exercise and meditation with an emphasis on helping people cope with stress and...
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Cole Redhorse Taylor: Creating Contemporary Work Through Connection to Traditional Art Forms
Today, we're excited to welcome Cole Redhorse Taylor to the Native Lights podcast. Cole is Mdewakanton Dakota and a member of the Prairie Island Indian Community. He's an artist, and has worked in many mediums: drawing, painting, beadwork, quill work, hockey helmets. He's created contemporary and...
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Carl Gawboy: Remembering the Fur Trade Through Art
Today, we welcome Carl Gawboy to the Native Lights podcast. Carl, born to a Finnish mother and an Ojibwe father, was raised in Ely and is a member of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe. Carl is an artist, whose primary medium is watercolors. But he turned to pen and ink for his recent graphic book Fur...
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Janis A. Fairbanks: Lessons Learned and Memories of Her Ojibwe Grandma
Today, we are excited to welcome Janis A. Fairbanks to Native Lights. Janis is a member of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. She recently released a book called Sugar Bush Babies: Stories of My Ojibwe Grandmother, a memoir in lessons learned from her grandmother during the era of...
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Wookiye Win: Digging for Artistic Inspiration (And Watercolor Pigments) in Nature
Today, we're thrilled to speak with Wookiye Win. Wookiye Win, Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, is an artist and educator. She teaches the Dakota language for the Dakota Language Nest Preschool program at the Institute of Child Development on the University of Minnesota campus. She's also the illustrator…
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Penny Kagigebi: Reclaiming 2-Spirit Culture Through Art
Today, we're excited to talk to Penny Kagigebi. Penny is a direct descendant of the White Earth Nation. She is a 2-Spirit queer community collaborator, artist, curator and teacher. She focuses on birch bark basketry and quill boxes and recently curated Queering Indigeneity for the Minnesota…
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Heid E. Erdrich: Finding Connections in Creativity and Collaboration
Today, we’re excited to chat with Heid E. Erdrich. Heid is an author, researcher, educator, curator and member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. In 2024, she was the inaugural Minneapolis Poet Laureate and, in 2025, she served as the James and Lois Welch Distinguished Native American...
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Alexandra Buffalohead: Making Time for Work, Art, and Blue Dog
Today, we’re excited to speak with Alexandra Buffalohead. Alex is from the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate and is the Director of Communications and Partnerships at the Native American Community Development Institute (NACDI). She’s also an artist, curator and musician. Alex talks about what drives her…
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Sharon Day: Speaking for the Water
Today, we are excited to welcome Sharon Day to the Native Lights Podcast. Sharon is enrolled with the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe, and she serves as the executive director of the Indigenous Peoples Task Force. She's also a grandmother, an artist, a musician and writer, and she leads Water Walks, or...
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Teresa Peterson: Loving the Land that Cares for Us All
Today, we're excited to speak with Teresa Peterson. Teresa is Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota and a member of the Upper Sioux Community. She is a passionate gardener, gatherer, lover of the land and author of several books, most recently the award-winning Perennial Ceremony. Teresa talks to us about her...
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Great-Grandmother Mary Lyons' Gift for Sharing Indigenous Traditions & Spiritual Guidance (Revisited)
On this week's show, we revisit our conversation from June 2022 with Great-Grandmother Mary Lyons (Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe), a spiritual advisor, storyteller, activist, wisdom keeper, and revered elder. Mary Lyons is the founder of the Minnesota Coalition on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and serves as…
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Rick Haaland: Speaking for the Animals
Today, 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. Rick shares the story of the most memorable dog of his childhood, a stray that showed up one day and never left. Even when Rick…
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David Wise: Growing Good Medicine
Today, we're very excited to 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. David started his bison herd after a dream with Chief...
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Wendy Roy: Beading as Healing
Today, 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. Wendy learned beading from her grandmother, who shared the trick to knowing which bead colors go together....
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Giizh Sarah Agaton Howes: Translating Ojibwe cultural arts into contemporary Ojibwe designs
Today we are speaking with Giizh Sarah Agaton Howes. Howes is an award-winning Anishinaabe creator, artist and organizer from Fond Du Lac reservation and Muscogree Creek. She’s the CEO of Heart Berry, a contemporary Ojibwe Design brand that offers wool blankets, apparel, gifts and accessories...
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Jonathan Thunder: Finding Joy in Art and Life
In today’s episode, we welcome back Jonathan Thunder, who last appeared on Native Lights in 2021. Since then, the Red Lake Nation citizen and multidisciplinary artist has become a father and opened an art gallery. He talks about how fatherhood has changed his approach to art and why lately he’s...
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Dan Ninham: Honoring Athletes and Indigenous Sports Traditions
In this episode, we speak with Dan Ninham, PhD, a retired physical education teacher and coach, co-founder of the North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame and prolific freelance writer. Dan, Wolf Clan from the Oneida Nation in Wisconsin, has had a lifelong interest in sports. This 6'10"...
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BearPaw Shields: Leaving a Legacy for Future Generations
In this episode, we speak with BearPaw Shields from the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes. She is a Saint Cloud State University alumna and is currently the Indigenous Learning Community Program Coordinator at the University’s American Indian Center. In her forties, she decided to go to...
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Allison Waukau: Empowering Native Stories Through Community Service and Podcasting
In this episode, we speak with Allison Waukau (Menominee/Navajo), who serves as the Tribal Liaison and Native Relations Coordinator at the Metropolitan Council. She previously worked at the Hennepin County Library and the Roseville School District as American Indian Community Liaison. Last year,...
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Dr. Amber Annis: Rebuilding Community with the Native Governance Center
In this episode, we hear from Dr. Amber Annis about the joys and challenges of rebuilding community and finding your voice as a leader. Dr. Amber Annis is a citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and the Executive Director of Native Governance Center. Prior to taking on her role at NGC in...
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Deven Current: Healing Through the Art of Tattooing
In this episode, we hear from Deven Current about tattooing, sports and the importance of sobriety, family and faith. Deven is an Ojibwe tattoo artist, who connected with his culture later in life. Deven grew up in the Twin Cities and, at a young age, fell into drug addiction. He ended up...
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Korina Barry: Leading from abundance with NDN Collective
In this episode we hear from Korina Barry on her work with NDN Collective and the campaign to free Leonard Peltier, in addition to reflections on her roles as mother, doula, and metal fabricator in training. A citizen of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Korina Barry manages the organizing, policy…
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Allison Herrera, Indigenous Affairs Journalist and author of Tribal Justice: The Struggle for Black Rights on Native Land
In this episode, we talk with Indigenous Affairs journalist and author Allison Herrera. Allison’s indigenous ties are from her Xolon Salinan tribal heritage. Her family's village is in the Toro Creek area of the Central California coast. She didn’t take the traditional route into journalism with…
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Mattie Harper DeCarlo on Making Change in Indian Country Through Philanthropy
In this episode, we talk with grantmaking officer and former educator and historian Mattie Harper DeCarlo, PhD. Mattie, a Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe citizen who grew up on Leech Lake Reservation, works in philanthropy at the Bush Foundation, focusing on Indigenous communities. She speaks with us...
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From Children’s Books to Murals: Moira Villiard on Examining and Bridging Disconnection Through Art
In this episode, we talk with artist, public speaker, and community organizer Moira Villiard. Moira, a Twin Cities-based visual artist and Fond Du Lac direct descendent, is a 2023 McKnight Foundation Community-Engaged Practice fellow and a 2024-2026 Bush Fellow. We chat with her about her current...
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The Gift of Listening: Colleen Baldrica on writing, being guided, and mentoring others
In this episode, we chat with author and retired school counselor Colleen Baldrica. Colleen, a White Earth Nation citizen, authored the book Tree Spirited Woman in 2006. During the pandemic, she recorded the audio version, so that her grandchildren could have an archive of her voice when they’re...
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Indigenous lifeways as solutions: Wakinyan LaPointe on staying grounded in the cultural teachings of song and the intelligence of Indigenous youth activists
In this episode, we chat with human rights advocate, singer, storyteller, and University of Minnesota-Twin Cities American Studies doctoral student Wakinyan LaPointe. Wakinyan, a Sicangu (Burnt Thigh) Lakota citizen of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, focuses his studies on Indigenous rights, human…
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Building bridges through story: Ajuawak Kapashesit on playing with genre, the power of story, and making action figure movies as a kid
In this episode, we sit down with Minneapolis-based actor, writer, and director Ajuawak Kapashesit. Ajuawak, who is Ojibwe, Cree, and Jewish, grew up in Ontario and on the White Earth Reservation. His acting credits include Indian Horse (2017), Once Upon a River (2019), Indian Road Trip (2020)…
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Making Books Accessible: Talia Miracle and Little Free Library
In this episode, we’re joined by Talia Miracle, an enrolled member of the Ho-Chunk Tribe of Winnebago and Program Manager at the Little Free Library. Talia opens up about her impactful work leading the Indigenous Library Program, which increases access to Indigenous literature and fosters…
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From Lattes to Legacy: The Grand Opening of MiigWitches Brew
In this episode, we sit down with Jackson Ripley, a member of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, enrolled at the Fort Berthold Reservation. Jackson shares the inspiring story behind MiigWitches Brew, a cozy gourmet coffee kiosk he recently opened with his wife. Operating from an 8x10 ft....
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Creating Representation: Nicholas DeShaw’s Path in Fiction and Storytelling
In this episode, we sit down with Nicholas Bimibatoo Mishtadim DeShaw, an Ojibwe author, father, and educator. Nicholas masterfully blends his Indigenous heritage with imaginative fiction across a wide range of genres, from sci-fi and horror to children’s picture books. He shares his journey as a...
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Stitch by Stitch: Janice LaFloe’s Journey of Indigenizing Montessori Education
In this episode, we speak with Janice LaFloe, a citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and Executive Director of the Montessori American Indian Childcare Center (MAICC) in St. Paul. Janice shares her remarkable journey from being a Montessori parent to establishing one of the largest...
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Gatherings Café: Vernon DeFoe on Indigenous Dishes and Food Sovereignty
In this episode of Native Lights, we sit down with Vernon DeFoe, the Executive Chef at the Gatherings Café located inside the Minneapolis American Indian Center. Vernon, a proud Red Cliff Anishinaabe, has over 20 years of experience in the restaurant industry and is a passionate advocate for...
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Gold, Linoleum, and Fire: Inside the Mind of Gordon Coons
In this episode of Native Lights, we sit down with Gordon Coons, a talented painter, print maker and fumage artist who is an enrolled member of the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribe in northern Wisconsin. Gordon, who now resides in Minnesota, shares his inspiring journey of becoming an artist, detailing...
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Art, Identity, and Alternate Worlds: A Conversation with Pono Asuncion
In today’s episode, we speak with Pono Asuncion, an interdisciplinary artist, storyteller, illustrator, and culture bearer. Drawing inspiration from childhood memories and ancestral roots, Pono’s art explores themes of alternate worlds, the extension of family lineage beyond this sphere, and the...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
In Native Lights, people in Native communities around Mni Sota Mkoce - a.k.a. Minnesota - tell their stories about finding their gifts and sharing them with the community. These are stories of joy, strength, history, and change from Native people who are shaping the future and honoring those who came before them. Native Lights is also 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.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. Online at https://minnesotanativenews.org/
HOSTED BY
Minnesota Native News
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices Shine have?
Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices Shine currently has 272 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices Shine about?
In Native Lights, people in Native communities around Mni Sota Mkoce - a.k.a. Minnesota - tell their stories about finding their gifts and sharing them with the community. These are stories of joy, strength, history, and change from Native people who are shaping the future and honoring those who...
How often does Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices Shine release new episodes?
Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices Shine publishes regularly with 272 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
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You can listen to Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices Shine on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices Shine?
Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices Shine is created and hosted by Minnesota Native News.
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