Rhiana Yazzie and Marisa Cummings Envision Post-Pandemic Life in Their Respective Fields

Host Leah Lemm (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe) is back exploring how
Indian Country in MN is responding and adapting to the current
pandemic health crisis.





 


On today’s show, we hear how two visionaries are looking forward
to life after the pandemic, in their respective fields. 
Rhiana Yazzie (Navajo) is a theatre artist, filmmaker,
playwright, and she founded New Native Theatre twelve years ago.
Marisa Cummings (Omaha) is the President and CEO of the Minnesota
Indian Women’s Resource Center (MIWRC), a non-profit organization
committed to traditional ways of being and support of Native
women and families.


 


Rhiana Yazzie speaks about how safety is a top concern, as the
New Native Theatre imagines bringing new productions to audiences
in the future. Rhiana reflects on how COVID-19 has
disproportionately affected Native peoples, and how
considerations for the well-being of community members will
continue to be woven into the mission and experience of New
Native Theatre, as it always has been pre-pandemic.  


 


Marisa Cummings shares about the great work the MIWRC does to
support Native women and families in the Phillips neighborhood of
Minneapolis, and how the organization’s efforts took shape and
continued throughout the pandemic.  Marisa explains how
meeting the challenge of engaging communities by creating
programming in the virtual world, has prompted the organization
to envision and imagine new ways of serving and strengthening
even more women and families long into the future. 


 


Miigwech, Rhiana Yazzie and Marisa Cummings! We are thankful for
your vision and leadership in your respective fields. 


 


New Native Theatre, based in the Twin Cities, is a new way of
looking at, thinking about, and staging Native American stories.
https://newnativetheatre.org/


 


The Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center (MIWRC) is a
non-profit social and mental health services organization
committed to traditional ways of being and support of Native
women and their families. https://www.miwrc.org/


 


Listen to past COVID-19 Community Conversations here:
https://minnesotanativenews.org/category/community-conversations/