Leah and Cole talk about what is was like when their own family fostered Native kids. They introduce us to people from every part of the foster care system. Also – a discussion on how the community can create safe spaces to deal with hard truths.
Transcript
{Marie}: This week on Minnesota Native News, more from our new podcast, Native Lights.
This is Minnesota Native News. I’m Marie Rock.
[Story #1 Native Lights]
{Marie}:
The hosts of Native Lights are Leah Lemm and Cole Premo. They are proud members of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, musicians, and reporters for Minnesota Native News. Episode Three of Native Lights is all about family. Leah and Cole talk about what is was like when their own family fostered Native kids. Here’s part of that conversation:
I don’t know how much you remember, Cole, you were a little bit younger. I was in I think ninth grade. I know we had several kids. I remember it was an American Indian foster care program. Do we know why they decided to do that? I asked dad, he said “ask your mom.” They together wanted to do something to give back and help the kids in foster care because this has been an issue forever. I thought it was cool, more kids to hang out with. It was almost like they fit into a space that we had.
{Marie}:
Also in Episode Three of the podcast, we meet people from every part of the foster care system. We meet an advocate for Native families who went through foster care herself and had to fight to get her own children back with her. We meet a Lakota woman who was adopted out, and didn’t meet her own family until she was 35. And we meet Jasmine Grika (GREEK-ah), a young advocate who spent years in the foster system.
My first home was non-native and it was really unfortunate because they get stipends for the children and they were using stipends for their own family not me. A lot of time I had to eat at my own table not the family table. And another time they were all going to the pool and I got my swimming suit and they said oh not you, you’re staying here. Leah (sign, holy smokes…)
{Marie}:
But Leah and Cole tell us that Jasmine’s story took a turn when she was adopted by a couple. Jasmine’s new mother had grown up in foster care too, but her roots were in White Earth. Together, she and Jasmine learned what it meant to be indigenous.
When you have an identity to claim and a culture to claim, you become more aware of who you are. Pretty much gave me what I needed to be successful. Cole: I thought it was really cool that they learned about it together. Leah: That was really cool.
{Marie}:
Episode Four is about how native people heal from trauma through cultural ways. We meet people who work with sex-trafficked girls and abused women. And we introduce two of those leaders to each other. Jenny Miller works with youth at the Minneapolis YMCA, and Anishinabe elder Eileen Hudon runs a healing drum circle, among other things. Eileen and Jenny share a remarkable personal history, as well as a lifelong commitment to help women and girls. Here’s part of their conversation. Eileen starts.
Eileen
so this, this is one of my thoughts. I think that the juvenile justice system is filled with compassionate people. I believe the institution is so tightly structured that they're not able to change their institution. One thing I love to see is the opportunity for them to do that because they totally get it.
Jenny: sometimes I feel that same way. Let me see how many young people I can help before the system catches me. You know? Because if you're going to issue out a bench warrant for a youth that's on run, chances are they're going to call us and you tell us that we can't work with them.
Eileen: That’s why we are providing sexual assault advocacy training to community women cause you're not going to be able to tell the grandma what she can and cannot do and helping her own grandchild or great grandchild. She can pretty much do what she wants.
Music sting.
{Marie}:
You can listen to “Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices Shine”, wherever you get your podcasts… just search for Native Lights.
And do let us know what you think.