Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices Shine

Latest Episodes:

Alex Kmett: Culture as Curriculum, Language as Medium Oct 08, 2026

Show notes

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 grown up in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when there were more First Language speakers around. He soaked up their language and cadences. But he didn’t really have the opportunity to figure out the mechanics of Ojibwemowin until college and then, during immersive study with First Language speakers.

His passion for language revitalization extends to teaching, co-founding a school, and contributing to the online Ojibwe People’s Dictionary. In 2026, he was awarded a Bush Fellowship in recognition of this lifetime of work.

Alex shares why he thinks AI is not the answer to learning Ojibwemowin. He talks about bringing up his children in an immersive language environment, what it means to care for the Ojibwe language, and how to teach a new generation of speakers.

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Hosts / Producers: Leah Lemm, Cole Premo

Editor: Britt Aamodt

Editorial support: Emily Krumberger

Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood
Image: Alex Kmett [photo credit: Caroline Yang]

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Ryan Dixon: Making Friends with the Dakota Language Sep 24, 2026

Show notes

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 educator and Indigenous language activist, he co-founded a Dakota Immersion Head Start programming and works to keep the language alive for future generations.

Ryan grew up in Georgia, far away from the Lakota homelands, but he had access to a first language speaker in his grandmother. When he moved to the Lower Sioux community in Southern Minnesota, he was recognized as someone who knew a little language. That led to people asking him to translate and, later, to an unbelievable apprenticeship that paid him to learn and teach Dakota.

He didn’t speak fluently until he was 31 and believes anyone can gain fluency in two years. But he says there’s one key ingredient that can’t be missing if a language learner wants to succeed. He also shares how he connects to the spirit of the Dakota language and what it means to become its friend.

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Hosts / Producers: Leah Lemm, Cole Premo

Editor: Britt Aamodt

Editorial support: Emily Krumberger

Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood

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Michael Kurtz: Tales of a Wildlife Photographer Sep 17, 2026

Show notes

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. He's also a naturalist and has volunteered with groups like the National Park Service and Project Coyote. He has spent countless hours across the Dakotas, Minnesota, and beyond, capturing wildlife in its natural habitat. Currently, he's supervisor of programming and interpretation with Hoċokata Ṫi Cultural Center at the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux community.

Michael's first camera was a Fisher Price kid's model, which he used to photograph toy dinosaurs. That early interest, paired with a love of the natural world, laid out his life's path as a wildlife photographer and naturalist.

He gives us his photography tips, weighs in on camouflage and scenting, reveals the once-in-a-lifetime wildlife shot he still can't believe he got and explains why he's putting off photographing a wolverine till retirement. He also talks birding and attempts his favorite birdcall.

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Hosts / Producers: Leah Lemm, Cole Premo

Editor: Britt Aamodt

Editorial support: Emily Krumberger

Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood
Michael Kurtz [photo credit: Michael Kurtz]

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Kent Estey: The Art of Survival Aug 27, 2026

Show notes

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 released the children's book Picking Sweetgrass. His latest exhibit, "Mino-Bimaadiziwin: The Good Life" runs through Labor Day weekend in Detroit Lakes: https://project412mn.org/Estey-The-Good-Life-Art/.

Kent shares why he believes his community is the best place to live and to make his work, and how he’s turned his rural studio into a hub of his art merchandizing. Kent tells us how his success is due in large part to Becky, his wife and partner in the business.

Kent’s grandmother was a nationally recognized black ash basket maker. Before she was a well-known artist, she was an Ojibwe girl from White Earth who’d been stripped of her culture and language by boarding schools. She never again spoke Ojibwe with her family. But, she made traditional black ash baskets the rest of her life. Kent explains how those baskets became her language and how he’s kept her legacy alive in his own creations.

When Kent started out, he got a great piece of advice: Don’t settle on being a starving artist. If you’re starving, you’re not doing the right work. Find out what it is and do it.

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Hosts / Producers: Leah Lemm, Cole Premo

Editor: Britt Aamodt

Editorial support: Emily Krumberger

Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood

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For the latest episode drops and updates, follow us on social media.

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Rafael Gonzalez, aka, Tufawon: How a Minneapolis Rap Artist Learned How to Sing and Make a Difference Aug 20, 2026

Show notes

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, songwriting, and recording through his music production program ".WAVWARRIOR".

Rafael joins us from Aguada, Puerto Rico, the mountainous home of his Boricua family. Puerto Rico and its musical heritage would eventually play a large role in the sounds he brought to the Minneapolis scene that gave rise to him as an artist. He talks about the support of the Minneapolis rap community when he was starting out, and how a group of Lakota and Dakota water protectors became his music mentors.

He reveals his biggest fear as a performer, why he believes in the next generation of creators and why he'll never step away from music making. He also shares clips of two new tracks from his EP Gradient.

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Hosts / Producers: Leah Lemm, Cole Premo

Editor: Britt Aamodt

Editorial support: Emily Krumberger

Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood

Image: Rafael Gonzalez [photo credit: Rafael Gonzalez]

Music: "Colorful" from EP Gradient (2026), written and produced by Tufawon, courtesy of Rafael Gonzalez/Tufawon. [00:00:28]

"Wandering" from EP Gradient (2026), written and produced by Tufawon, courtesy of Rafael Gonzalez/Tufawon. [00:01:00]

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Alexandera Houchin: Life on Two Wheels Jul 30, 2026

Show notes

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 adventurer, storyteller, and writer. And she is currently working on her memoir for Penguin Random House and is the subject of a documentary.

Alexandera shares her story of growing up apart from her Ojibwe roots. Her mother had been adopted and spent the first 19 years of Alexandera's life trying to track down her Native birth family.

As an adult, Alexandera got her first bike to replace a car that no longer worked. But soon, she was sucked into the exciting world of bike tours and ultra endurance events, multi-day races over hundreds of miles. She tells us how the long stretches of open road helped her cultivate healing and a place for ceremony.

She also opens up about how her racing career led her to become a writer and how following her passion—along with setting records in some intense, grueling races—led to a documentary project and an unexpected invitation to write a book.

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Hosts / Producers: Leah Lemm, Cole Premo

Editor: Britt Aamodt

Editorial support: Emily Krumberger

Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood

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For the latest episode drops and updates, follow us on social media.

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Bradley Harrington: The United States 250th Anniversary from an Anishinaabe Perspective Jul 09, 2026

Show notes

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.

Bradley delves into the politics that led to the European occupation of the continent, and how a belief that the land was theirs by divine right and Supreme Court lawmaking ignored thousands of years of Native history and stewardship. He shares what the country's 250th anniversary might look like from the perspective of an Anishinaabe citizen.

He also catches us up on what's happened in his life since Leah and Cole last spoke to him in 2022. How a career shift has made it possible for him to devote more time to making the Ojibwe language accessible to learners. How years after his own incarceration he is going behind bars to be of service to prisoners. And, how learning ceremony from his elders has led him to connect with the larger Anishinaabe community.

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Hosts / Producers: Leah Lemm, Cole Premo

Editor: Britt Aamodt

Editorial support: Emily Krumberger

Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood

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For the latest episode drops and updates, follow us on social media.

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Never miss a beat. Sign up for our email list to receive news, updates and content releases from AMPERS. ampers.org/about-ampers/staytuned/

Dr. Samantha Majhor: The Story Collector Jun 25, 2026

Show notes

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.

Samantha gives us an inside look at the creation of the Oceti Sakowin Story Map Project, which she is co-developing. It's a digital archive of oral narratives connecting Dakota and Lakota stories across the Oceti Sakowin diaspora. She also discusses the challenge of archiving this valuable resource online, while trying to keep it out of the reach of AI searches and web results, and how the stories spoken in the Dakota language might be their own best protection.

She talks to us about rematriation, what it is, how it's different from repatriation and why it's important to use this term when thinking about land back.

And, of course, we couldn't talk with American Indian Studies and literature professor Samantha Majhor without asking her to share the books on her to-read list as well as some recommendations:

To the Moon and Back by Eliana Ramage
Back for Blood: Never Whistle at Night Part II edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst JR.
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters
Python's Kiss by Louise Erdrich
The Grass Dancer by Susan Power
Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese
Whereas (poetry) by Layli Long Soldier
There There by Tommy Orange

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Hosts / Producers: Leah Lemm, Cole Premo

Editor: Britt Aamodt

Editorial support: Emily Krumberger

Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood

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For the latest episode drops and updates, follow us on social media.

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Never miss a beat. Sign up for our email list to receive news, updates and content releases from AMPERS. ampers.org/about-ampers/staytuned/

Aleyna Morales: Baking and Believing in Herself Jun 04, 2026

Show notes

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 Carlton County Farmers Market.

Aleyna shares how a need to pull herself out of the lowest point in her life led to taking classes and an interest in sourdough bread. She posted videos on TikTok, never expecting people to reach out and to buy her bread. A decision to attend a local entrepreneur meet-up led to an encounter with a neighbor who was starting a coffee business and, coincidentally, needed scones and muffins to sell to his customers. Together, these surprising turns of events, her gifts and the support of her community have allowed her to create a thriving baking business she calls Baked to Bliss by Laney.

She also talks about what helps her to cope when times get hard and why believing in yourself is key to building a better life.

Aleyna is the mom of five children and lives with her partner in the Fond du Lac community.

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Hosts / Producers: Leah Lemm, Cole Premo

Editor: Britt Aamodt

Editorial support: Emily Krumberger

Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood

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For the latest episode drops and updates, follow us on social media.

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Never miss a beat. Sign up for our email list to receive news, updates and content releases from AMPERS. ampers.org/about-ampers/staytuned/

Adam Savariego: The Power of Asking Questions May 14, 2026

Show notes

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 Yellow Medicine East High School in Granite Falls Minnesota. He's also a traveler, a foodie and a cat lover.

When he was 20, Adam began asking questions. What did it mean to be Dakota? What did it mean to be part of community and a tribe? He wanted to understand who he was. That journey led him to learn everything he could about the Dakota and the Upper Sioux Community.

In our conversation, he reflects on the importance of being a good relative to that history and about passing on that knowledge to the next generation through his work as an educator.

Adam served on the tribal council for four years as secretary. When he left, he didn't have a plan for what came next. He shares how leaving that important decision in the hands of fate and belief led to a career change.

Along with a glimpse into his work as the Native American Affairs Advisor with the Minnesota Governor's Office, he talks about his love of traveling, a memorable trip to Croatia and his favorite Mexican street food.
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Hosts / Producers: Leah Lemm, Cole Premo

Editor: Britt Aamodt

Editorial support: Emily Krumberger

Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood

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For the latest episode drops and updates, follow us on social media.

instagram.com/ampersradio

instagram.com/mnnativenews

facebook.com/MNNativeNews

Never miss a beat. Sign up for our email list to receive news, updates and content releases from AMPERS. ampers.org/about-ampers/staytuned/