Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices Shine

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 love of growing things. That includes tending a large garden, where she forages for tossed salads a...

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 a counselor for the women's sobriety group, which she also co-founded, called Women of Wellbriety Inte...

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 spent the summer with his grandparents, Drifter, unwilling to be left behind, walked two days to reunit...

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 Buffalo, who told him to bring back his namesake. Starting with twelve, he now has a herd that numbers c...

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. Her grandma would pour beads on a tray to see which beads grouped together and wanted to be friends w...

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 rooted in Howes’s beadwork and Ojibwe floral designs.   Giizh was raised by an artist mother but never tho...

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 shifted his creative focus from sociopolitical ideas to joy. Thunder also shares the experience of cre...

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" college basketball player devoted his working life to coaching and teaching sports. Even though he's...

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 college and get a degree so that she could make the change she wanted to see in the world. She does that no...

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, she started a new podcast with Odia Wood-Krueger. Through “Books Are Good Medicine,” the co-hosts ex...

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 December 2024, she worked at the Minnesota Historical Society as Associate Vice President of Tribal Natio...

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 incarcerated, but his time in prison introduced him to an unrealized talent - tattoo art. He turned that tal...

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 and advocacy direct-action arm of NDN Collective, which, in January 2025, led the successful campaign...

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 a degree. She just decided she wanted to do it and did it. Starting out at Minneapolis community stat...

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 about the nuance of supporting 23 Native nations through philanthropy, how to provide context to non-N...

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 projects, Waiting for Beds , a traveling exhibition that explores the experience of waiting while in...

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 older. Colleen shares the experience - central to her story - of being directed towards a life of wri...

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 rights, and youth organizing. He describes how his work with Indigenous young people, Indigenous people ac...

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), Bad Blood (CityTV/Netflix), and Outlander (Starz/Sony). Ajuawak’s short story, “A Fresh Start,” was pub...

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 stronger, more inspired communities across the U.S. and Canada.   She shares how her own experiences with limi...

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. building, MiigWitches Brew is more than just a coffee spot—it’s a community hub.    Jackson talks with u...

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 writer, discussing his latest projects, including a new graphic novel and his first children’s book, L...

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 Montessori centers dedicated to American Indian children. Her passion was sparked by witnessing her son’s...

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 Indigenous food sovereignty. For the past decade, he's been deeply involved in the movement to reclaim trad...

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 the pivotal moments throughout the eras that shaped his path and strengthened his creative body of work...