Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices Shine

Ruth Buffalo is a citizen of the Mandan Hidatsa Arikara Nation and a descendant of the Chiricahua Apache. She has served on advisory councils focused on women's health, women's leadership development and local food systems. She is board President for the National Native Boarding School Healing Coalition. She is also the former board president of the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition.    In 2019,...

Willard Malebear Jr. is a Lakota artist who is the CEO and owner of Unified Theory Collective, he is also the Executive Chairman of Art Shelf. Both organizations are heavily geared toward infusing creativity and getting art supplies out to the community. Willard is an experienced painter and tattoo artist who found a way to combine all his passions, embracing arts and culture for wellness.   In th...

Mary LaGarde is the Executive Director of the Minneapolis American Indian Center (MAIC) and a member of the White Earth Nation. She was selected to lead the organization in June 2013 and has over 30 years of nonprofit experience in program services, including management and development.   In 2008, LaGarde received the DreamMaker Award from the Ann Bancroft Foundation. In 2014, she was honored at t...

Staci Lola Drouillard is a Grand Portage Band of Ojibwe direct descendant. She lives and works in her hometown of Kitchibitobig—Grand Marais, on Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior. Staci works as a radio producer for WTIP North Shore Community Radio and authors the monthly column Nibi Chronicles for Great Lakes Now, a branch of Detroit Public Media.   Her first book Walking the Old Road: A P...

Michael Migizi Sullivan Sr. is a lifelong student of the Ojibwe language, father, husband, ceremonial drum keeper of the Ojibwe, powwow emcee, up-and-coming storyteller, and teacher of the Ojibwe language. Dr. Sullivan earned his doctorate in linguistics at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, working under the tutelage of Larry Amik Smallwood as his main language consultant and Dr. John D. Ni...

Fern Renville is a storyteller, artist, playwright, and enrolled citizen of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate. Fern lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she is currently investigating the role of nettle fiber in Dakota material culture as a Native Artist in Residence at the Minnesota Historical Society.   In this episode, Fern talks about weaving a stronger connection to this homeland not only through ne...

Steven StandingCloud is an enrolled member of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians located in northcentral Minnesota. Steven has been an artist most of his life and works under StandingCloud Graphics. He says the art forms that he creates are inherent to the Ojibwe and Lakota people. Steven spoke with us about how he got his start in graphic design in the 1980s, what he wants his work to accompli...

Gabby Menomin is a citizen of the Forest County Potawtomi Community in northern Wisconsin. She’s currently the restoration manager for Wakan Tipi Awanyankapi. She oversees the ongoing ecological restoration of Wakan Tipi, which is a cave sacred to Dakota people, located in St. Paul along the Mississippi River. She graduated with a master’s degree in Tribal Natural Resource Management.   Gabby is f...

Melissa Blind is Cree from George Gordon's First Nation in Saskatchewan. She earned her PhD in American Indian Studies from the University of Arizona.  Melissa has over a decade of experience working with Indigenous communities in Indigenous health and dementia research.    As the current Senior Research Associate on the Memory Keepers Medical Discovery Team at the University of Minnesota, Duluth...

On today’s episode, Leah and Cole speak with Eileen Bass. Eileen is Hunkpapa Lakota, Mvskoke Creek, and a citizen of the Sac & Fox Nation of Oklahoma. She’s currently an undergraduate student at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.   In the summer of 2023, she was accepted into the Minnesota Historical Society’s Native American Undergraduate Museum Fellowship program. She is also part of t...

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...

On today’s episode, Leah and Cole speak with Mathew Holding Eagle III, a citizen of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation – federally recognized as the Three Affiliated Tribes – in western North Dakota.   Mathew started his career in construction before pivoting to journalism! He now works at MPR News as a reporter. He’s covered Native communities in Minnesota for quite a bit and recently receive...

On today's episode, Leah and Cole speak with Travis Zimmerman, whose family is from the Crane Clan of Grand Portage. He is the site manager for the Mille Lacs Indian Museum and Trading Post.   Travis also hosted "DeCoded: Native Veterans In Minnesota Who Helped Win World War II," — produced by Minnesota Native News and Ampers.  Travis talks about his love for Native American history, specifically...

On today’s episode, Leah and Cole speak with Ernest Briggs (White Earth Nation), who is a director, writer, producer, teacher, and actor from the Twin Cities where he's worked in the theater community for 15+ years. He’s the artistic director of Turtle Theater Collective, a collective of Indigenous theater artists focused on telling Native stories.   Ernest recently made his Guthrie Theater debut...

On today’s episode, Leah and Cole speak with Ernest Briggs (White Earth Nation), who is a director, writer, producer, teacher, and actor from the Twin Cities where he's worked in the theater community for 15+ years. He’s the artistic director of Turtle Theater Collective, a collective of Indigenous theater artists focused on telling Native stories.   Ernest recently made his Guthrie Theater debut...

Today, Leah and Cole chat with Adrienne Zimiga-January, a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation who has been creating and performing in the Twin Cities theater community for over a decade.    This fall, she’s making her Guthrie debut on stage in “For The People.” It’s billed as a “world premiere comedy by Native voices” with a story set in the Minneapolis Native community.    In addition to her insi...

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. He describes how excited the students are with these games that n...

Today, Leah and Cole chat with artist Shaun Chosa. Shaun's art boldly blends Indigenous heritage, counterculture, and pop culture influences, echoing his self-described nomadic upbringing.    Currently, his pieces are on display at the Friedli Gallery through October 2023, where he weaves Indigenous traditions into the fabric of popular culture. Shaun shares captivating stories from his travels ac...

This week, Leah and Cole chat with Tashia Hart (Red Lake Nation), a culinary ethnobotanist, artist, photographer, award-winning author, and cook. As a multifaceted artist, Tashia’s art reflects the stages of her life, connections to nature and food. She shares about the making of her most recent work, Native Love Jams, a “sweet” romance that explores the relationships of love and food. Tashia also...

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 lea...

Leah and Cole are joined by the multi-talented Rhiana Yazzie (Diné Nation), a remarkable theatre artist, filmmaker, playwright, and the visionary force behind New Native Theatre . Rhiana shares the latest developments at New Native Theatre, delves into her award-winning feature film "" A Winter Love ," and shares about her lifelong passion for storytelling that has shaped her journey from childhoo...

Cole and Leah meet and chat with high school basketball coach John Villebrun (Bois Forte Band). John coaches girls’ basketball at Mountain Iron-Buhl High School on the Iron Range. The team was recently crowned the Minnesota Class A State Girls’ Basketball Champions, and John received the honor of Assistant Coach of the Year! Now as a decorated coach, John remains modest and continues to lead with...

Leah and Cole take a trip to Four Sisters Farmers Market in Minneapolis! It’s the first market day of the year, and our hosts chat with poet, playwright, and author Marcie Rendon ; Janet Court from the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute (EPNI); and The Pretendians who played music at the Farmers Market! We also hear Pretendians songs “For the Sun” and “The 38” from their upcoming album Stories F...

Leah and Cole take a trip to Four Sisters Farmers Market in Minneapolis! It’s the first market day of the year, and our hosts chat with nature-inspired jewelry designer Lali Aguilar from Corn Silk Daughter ; food and plant loving Rivianna Zeller, a Farmer & Distribution Coordinator with Dream of Wild Health ; Native book publisher Tom Peacock from Black Bears and Blueberries Publishing ; and D...

Today Leah and Cole chat with An Garagiola, a descendent of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, and the University Coordinator and a Lead Researcher on the TRUTH Project. An shares about researching archives from the University of MN and the MN Historical Society, findings from the TRUTH Project, and how she’s bringing Indigenous values to Academia and research. The Towards Recognition and University...