Ókhižu Wakpá ed Watóphapi
(Boating on St Croix River)
October 8, 2026 | 6-8PM
Join Marlena Myles, Dawí Westerman, and Sydney Ockenga on Thursday, October 8th at 6PM for a 2-hour guided cruise down the St Croix River. Enjoy an evening on the Taylors Falls Queen and experience the St Croix River through Dakota storytelling, language, and history. Read more about our tour guides below!
Registration is $45/person, and includes frybread tacos from Pow Wow Grounds. Cash bar available on the boat. Load in begins from Taylors Falls Scenic Boat Tours at 5:45PM.
Marlena Myles is a self-taught Native American (Spirit Lake Dakota/Mohegan/Muscogee) artist located in St Paul, Minnesota. Her art brings modernity to Indigenous history, languages and oral traditions while using the land as a teacher. Growing up on her traditional Dakota homelands here in the Twin Cities, she enjoys using her artwork to teach Minnesotans of all backgrounds the Indigenous history of this place we call home.
Her professional work includes children’s books, augmented reality, murals, fabrics, animations and has shown her work in fine art galleries such as the Minneapolis Institute of Art, The Museum of Russian Art, Red Cloud Heritage Center and the Minnesota Museum of American Art to name a few. Her first permanent site-specific augmented reality public art installation known as the Dakota Spirit Walk is available on the Revelo AR app.
In 2021, she opened her own Dakota publishing company called Wíyouŋkihipi (We Are Capable) Productions to create a platform that educates and honors the culture, language and history of Dakota people.
Dawí Westerman (Huhá Máza) is a lineal descendant of the Santee Sioux tribe of Nebraska, forcibly removed from Minnesota homelands in the 1860s. He is a father, Educator, and Dakota Language Media Producer for Wíyouŋkihipi Productions. Inquiries for language can be made via email at huhamaza@wiyounkihipi.com.
Photo courtesy of MN Conservation Volunteer magazine
Sydney Ockenga (any pronouns) is a Flandreau Santee descendant artist from Flandreau, SD. Now based in St. Paul, Minnesota, Sydney graduated from St. Catherine University 2021 with a B.A. in Studio Art and Art History. They create art as an act of liberation and an outlet for reflecting on their life experiences and to make connections to feelings that arise through storytelling. Sydney has always had a curiosity for exploring stories and the ways they appear in our lives and their impact on our relationships as relatives to each other and the natural world. Witnessing stories of family members and friends, and exploring the relationship between people and their stories, is where they most often find the inspiration to create art.
Taylors Falls Scenic Boat Tours has operated as a family business since 1906. Since opening, tourists by the thousands have enjoyed the scenic beauty of the world-famous Dalles of the St. Croix River by boat. On your tour, you’ll learn about the area’s history and the unique rock formations left behind as the glaciers retreated thousands of years ago! In addition to our daily boat tours, we also offer private charters, weddings, receptions, corporate parties, groom’s dinners, and birthday parties. Our paddlewheel boats provide a unique and memorable venue for your next event!
Accessibility
The Taylors Falls Scenic Boat Tours are handicap-friendly. The boat’s lower level is accessible in a semi-limited capacity to most standard-size manual wheelchairs during normal water levels. The restrooms on board are not handicapped accessible, but there are accessible stalls in our restrooms next to the ticket window in the brown building. There is no elevator to the 2nd level of the boat.
Parking
Parking at the boat company and in town
All parking in the lot near the boat company now requires paid parking. Spaces are first‑come, first‑served, and payment must be made by credit card. Rates are $1.00 per hour for the first two hours and $3.00 per hour for each additional hour. Prices are subject to change.
You can also park in town and walk under the bridge to reach the boat company.
MN Interstate Park Parking
Additional PAID parking is available at the State Park, adjacent to the boat company lot.
Location
29836 St. Croix Trail
Shafer, MN 55074
Franconia Sculpture Park resides on the ancestral Dakota lands of the Wahpekute in Mni Sota Makoce, along the St. Croix River which also holds significance by the Ojibwe and other Native peoples. We recognize, support and advocate for all Native nations and will actively center Native voices in our work.
Hours
The grounds of Franconia Sculpture Park are open 365 days a year from 8am-8pm.
The Franconia Commons building is open:
May 4 – Nov. 14:
Everyday, 10am-5pm
Nov. 15 – May 3: Friday-Sunday, 10am-4pm
Closed on National Holidays
