Monday, August 4th at 6:30 PM at the Prairie Heritage Center
Riverside Chat
with Dr. Kevin Mason & Cody Seaboy
Kevin Mason will sit down for a conversation with Cody Seaboy, of the Sisseton and Wahpeton Sioux Tribe, to discuss kinship ties to Inkpaduta, connection to the land and the continued lifeways of the Dakota in the Midwest. A brief curated Q&A will conclude the event.
This is a listening oriented event. Attendees are expected to show respect to speakers as well as other attendees while conducting themselves.
Prairie Heritage Center
4931 Yellow Ave
Peterson, IA 51047
TOMORROW –
Tuesday, August 5th at 6:30 PM at the Prairie Heritage Center
History of the Dakota in Iowa
with Dr. Kevin Mason
This talk unpacks the deeper story behind the Spirit Lake events of 1857, revealing how sustained Indigenous land management, broken treaties, and ecological upheaval converged to shape a complex legacy far beyond the simplistic “attack” narrative. You’ll journey through Dakota concepts like “wita” (places of refuge), learn how Inkpaduta’s leadership embodied both resilience and tragedy amid environmental collapse, and see how settler expansion remade landscapes and lives.
This summer, we’re proud to partner with the Iowa Cancer Consortium to promote sun safety and skin cancer awareness! Through their Sun-Safety Community Project, we were able to receive 3 GALLONS of sunscreen for community use!
Sunscreen is available at the entrance to Waitt Lab, the Dining Hall, & in our Environmental Education Classroom!
“Skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the U.S. Many types of skin cancer cannot spread (metastasize) to other organs, but some types of skin cancer are deadly. The deadliest form of skin cancer is called melanoma. Iowa has the 5th highest incidence rate of melanoma in the country, and our rates are growing faster than other states” (Iowa Cancer Registry, 2024)
Visit the Consortium website for more information & resources on Cancer in Iowa: Iowa Cancer Consortium
Learn more about melanoma & how to protect yourself from the sun’s rays: Sunblock Uncovered
This program is made possible by the Iowa Cancer Consortium, the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, and the Melanoma Program at the University of Iowa Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center.
TUESDAY NIGHT LECTURE
Tomorrow (8/5) we’ll hear from Tanner Bouchard, Weed Commissioner of Dickinson County Conservation, about Iowa’s Integrated Roadside Vegetation Management (IRVM) & their goal to use alternative roadside management practices.
Integrated Roadside Vegetation Management in Dickinson County
with Tanner Bouchard of Dickson Co. Conservation
Join us THIS WEEK, August 6-8th for the annual Prairie Lakes Conference. This workshop is intended for interested landowners and lake enthusiasts to learn more about protecting the Iowa Great Lakes.
Topics this year include..
Lost lakes of Iowa
Flood impacts from 2024
Q&A with local experts on topics of your choice.
Local field tours, including Jones Dairy this year!
Registration is still open! Only $25 for the three days, and you can attend as little or as much as you like.
The event will take place from September 28th to October 1st, 2025, at the historic Iowa Lakeside Laboratory on the shores of West Lake Okoboji, offering writers and songwriters a unique blend of education, creativity, and community.
Scholarships are also available to assist writers from all backgrounds.
COFFEE & GROUNDS
Join our facilities manager, Matt Fairchild, on Tuesdays at 8:30 AM at the Waitt Lab to help manage our 147 acres of land! Work hard, make friends, & learn about native ecosystems while helping to restore Lakeside to its original prairie & oak savanna landscape. No experience required!
Coffee, snacks, & conversation to take place afterwards, around 9:30-10 AM, on the Waitt Lab deck.
Questions? More information? Call Matt at 712-260-1474
Doing some spring cleaning?
We’re always accepting donations of:
Gently used furniture
Appliances
Cold weather children’s clothing
Recreation equipment
Text or call 712-759-4227 to arrange a donation!
LAKESIDE LAB TREASURE HIKE
Looking for a fun way to spend time in nature? Try our Treasure Hike! For all ages. Follow the map around campus to put the pieces together! Maps are available beginning Memorial Day weekend and can be found by the map in the parking lot, or in Waitt Lab.
Iowa Lakeside Laboratory is located on the homelands of several Indigenous nations including the Báxoǰe (Iowa), Umoⁿhoⁿ (Omaha), Póⁿka (Ponca), Dakota/Lakota/Nakoda, and Sahnish/Nuxbaaga/Nuweta (Three Affiliated Tribes) and acknowledges the sovereignty and traditional territories of these people, the treaties that were used to remove them, and the histories of dispossession.
Mitakuye Oyasin – We are all related.
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Friends of Lakeside Lab | 1838 Hwy 86 | Milford, IA 51351 US
