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Crazy Horse: Oglala Lakota War Hero & Protector of the Native Way of Life
Crazy Horse defended Lakota land and his people’s right to determine their own future. From resistance to U.S. expansion to his death at Fort Robinson, his story reveals the costs of broken treaties and forced displacement, alongside a legacy of courage, generosity, and commitment to his people.
Chipco Preserve
Sep 117 min read
When the Fireflies Disappear
I saw one firefly this evening, and stopping to watch it made me think about how much our idea of “normal” changes over time. One generation remembers hundreds. The next remembers dozens. A child sees only a few and thinks that is summer. Ecologists call this shifting baseline syndrome. Sometimes loss happens twice: first in nature, then in memory.
Chipco Preserve
Sep 96 min read
Dolly Parton: Smoky Mountains Advocate
Maeve Kiley explores how Dolly Parton’s Appalachian roots shaped her music, philanthropy, and environmental advocacy. Known as the “Smoky Mountain Songbird,” Parton supported wildlife conservation, protected native habitats, and assisted communities affected by natural disasters, leaving a legacy rooted in compassion for the land, wildlife, and people of the Great Smoky Mountains.
Chipco Preserve
Sep 65 min read
Life in a Microhabitat
By Maeve Kiley Small Worlds, Big Impacts Most people have heard legends of Little People. Tiny creatures, often winged or possessing magical capabilities, that live in tiny homes beneath flower petals and inside tree holes. They go by many names and wear many faces: fairies, pixies, gnomes, brownies, leprechauns, Yunwi Tsundi (Cherokee) and so much more. As we grew older, many categorized these legends under a nostalgic haze, but the idea of tiny worlds inhabited by tiny peop
Chipco Preserve
Aug 184 min read
Don’t Play with Your Food
Vienna’s Vegetable Orchestra turns fresh produce into music, dinner, and a lesson in sustainability. Most of us were taught not to play with our food. A group of musicians in Vienna heard that instruction and chose a different path. And the music is truly an acquired taste. The Vegetable Orchestra performs with instruments made from fresh produce. Carrots become recorders. Pumpkins provide percussion. Radishes form bass flutes. Leeks fill in for violins. Eggplants clap, celer
Chipco Preserve
Aug 135 min read
Secrets of the Cicada
Scientists are studying the microscopic structure of cicada wings for clues to creating antibacterial surfaces. The discovery offers a striking example of biomimicry and a reminder that biodiversity may hold solutions we have not yet learned to recognize.
Chipco Preserve
Aug 103 min read
Endling: The Story of Lonesome George
In 1971, scientists exploring a remote Galápagos island discovered a solitary giant tortoise living among the cactus and Palo Santo trees. Soon named Lonesome George, he carried an unimaginable burden beneath his massive shell: he was the last of his kind.
In Endling: The Story of Lonesome George, Maeve Kiley traces the human choices that connects his story to Martha, Sudan, Toughie, and other animals pushed to extinction’s edge.
Chipco Preserve
Aug 36 min read
Cutting Bee Science Risks Our Food System
America’s native bees sustain ecosystems, crops, and food security, but the federal scientists who study and protect them face devastating cuts. As bee losses mount and research stalls, the consequences could reach far beyond the hive. Maeve Kiley examines what is at risk and how each of us can help protect pollinators.
Chipco Preserve
Jul 274 min read
Scales & Stigma: Fighting the Misinformation Surrounding Snakes
Maeve Kiley History of Serpentine Stigma Snakes have historically been portrayed as mischievous, dangerous, and sometimes, downright evil. Humans have assigned morality upon an unsuspecting animal due to its physical appearance and biology. The most common theory behind human aversion to snakes is due to evolution. Evolutionary scientists suggest many humans have a “genetic phobia” of snakes due to venomous snakes being a common threat to humanity’s ancestors.
Chipco Preserve
Jul 165 min read
Beyond the Next Ridge: What the Landscape Revealed at Little Bighorn
Little Bighorn is often remembered as a vast battlefield stretching across the plains. Yet standing there reveals a different reality. Beneath the open horizon lie ridges, valleys, and hidden places that conceal as much as they reveal. The land offered clues to what was coming. What happened here was shaped not only by what people knew, but by what they chose to dismiss.
Chipco Preserve
Jun 243 min read
2026 National Animal Rights Week
National Animal Rights Week asks us to confront a painful contradiction: animals are loved, honored, and remembered, yet too often treated as expendable. From Ahimsa to Mitákuye Oyás'iŋ, many traditions teach that animals are not objects, but living relations worthy of protection, dignity, and care.
Chipco Preserve
Jun 157 min read
History, Advocacy, and Support for Veterans this PTSD Awareness Month
Maeve Kiley National PTSD Awareness Month In 2014, the United States Government recognized June as National Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Awareness Month. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for PTSD pushed for a month-long designation to raise awareness about PTSD, reduce stigma, and promote the importance of treatment. Although the conversation surrounding mental health is more open, stigma still exists. Many
Chipco Preserve
Jun 85 min read
Greasy Grass/Little Bighorn at 150
The initial post regarding our social media coverage of the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Greasy Grass/Little Bighorn.
Chipco Preserve
Jun 72 min read
A New Whistle (Whistling Duck) on the Preserve
Four black-bellied whistling ducks have recently appeared at Chipco Preserve, bringing their soft flute-like calls, long-legged silhouettes, and quiet signs of ecological change. Once more common farther south, these social wetland birds are expanding across Florida, reminding us that habitat, water, and conservation matter. Their arrival is a gentle signal that the Preserve remains part of a larger living map shaped by wings, weather, and wild movement.
Chipco Preserve
May 252 min read
Chipco Preserve Receives 120 Pairs of Socks in Honor of Adele
Chipco Preserve is grateful to receive a donation of 120 pairs of socks from WholesaleSockDeals.com, provided through Adele’s Legacy, a charitable effort created to honor Adele’s spirit of generosity by bringing comfort to people in need. The mission behind Adele’s Legacy is beautifully direct: to donate 120 pairs of socks to every charity it can reach, carrying forward Adele’s memory through acts of care, dignity, and practical support. For the families Chipco Preserve serve
Chipco Preserve
May 242 min read
The History of Memorial Day
Maeve Kiley Honoring the Fallen for 158 Years General John A. Logan was an American soldier, general, and politician. He served as an officer with the 1st Illinois Volunteer Infantry during the Mexican-American War and, upon his return home to Illinois, was elected to the US House of Representatives in November 1858. He defended the Union during the months leading up to the Civil War and then volunteered his services upon the war’s outbreak. Grave markers with American flags
Chipco Preserve
May 223 min read
Happy Little Things
Small things that makes us smile.
Chipco Preserve
May 192 min read
Plug In, Listen Up: Chipco Preserve’s Podcasts Are Growing
A brief discussion about Chipco Preserve's podcasts.
Chipco Preserve
May 182 min read
Nature's Gentle Work
A story about a bird that is making a family in our garage.
Chipco Preserve
May 143 min read
The Turners Giving Partnership
Chipco Preserve’s support for Native communities is often built through relationships, one conversation, one need, one box, and one act of care at a time. For Steve and Michele Turner of Chatham, Illinois, that relationship began when Steve was asked to join Chipco Preserve's board. At the time, Steve said that he knew little about the Rosebud Sioux Tribe or daily life on the Rosebud Reservation. Over the next several months, that changed. Through conversations with Chipco Pr
Chipco Preserve
May 134 min read
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