NAFPS Forum

This is an excerpt from the Johnson County Arts and Heritage Center website about the Potawatomi Trail of Death public art project. To be eligible, an artist must have a tribal affiliation that is recognized. Leah Yellowbird claims to be "First Nations Algonquin-Metis and Anishinaabe." I'm not sure what she means by "First Nations Algonquin-Metis" as Algonquin-Metis doesn't exist or really even make sense. I haven't been able to find anywhere she specifies an Anishinaabe tribe/band which is a red flag. In my opinion, based on Leah's genealogy, she could only enroll in a fake state recognized tribe because she is not Native American.

Artist Eligibility:
The public art opportunity is open to professional artists residing within the United States with a tribal affiliation that is recognized. If you have questions about your eligibility, please contact us at jcprdpublicart@jocogov.org.

Artist Stipend:
The artist stipend for this project is $100,000. This stipend, payable to the artist, is to include artist design fee, labor, fabrication, materials, transportation costs, a community engagement activity, and any mounting or hardware costs associated with the installation.

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Source: Heritage Park Public Art Project
Direct Link: https://www.jcprd.com/1968/Heritage-Park-Public-Art-Project
Archive Link: https://archive.ph/C2hvX#selection-831.0-839.1

The Johnson County Park and Recreation District (JCPRD) in Kansas, in collaboration with the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, solicited designs for a public art project to commemorate the Potawatomi Trail of Death. Leah Yellowbird was chosen as one of three finalists to submit a design. Her design was chosen as the winner. Susan Mong, JCPRD Superintendent of Culture, said, “With all of our public art projects, we typically will put an artist call out. In this case, it was across the nation. So, anybody across the United States that had an affiliation with a Native American tribe was invited to apply."

Leah Yellowbird isn't Native American and wouldn't meet the qualifications to participate. I wonder if the JCPRD or Citizen Potawatomi Nation requested specific information from Leah about her claims of being Anishinaabe (or Algonquin and Metis) for verification. That information should be readily provided by Leah if she is claiming to be a Native American artist.

Public art project will soon take shape
December 12, 2024

Tribal members will be asked to contribute images to a public art project that commemorates the Potawatomi Trail of Death.

The Johnson County Park and Recreation District in Kansas, recently announced that “Fire Keepers Circle,” by artists Leah Yellowbird and Aaron Squadroni, was selected as the winning design from among three finalists.

“Fire Keepers Circle” is comprised of a panel that features four layers. The spiritual layer expresses the spirit of the fire keepers. The trail path shows the route from Indiana to Kansas. The ancestral layer represents the number of Potawatomi who made the journey in 1838. The contemporary layer will include submissions from Potawatomi tribal members that will be imprinted on the metal.

The piece will be fabricated over a period of five to six months and then installed in the park. An official ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony is tentatively scheduled for July of 2025.

The announcement follows months of research, planning and consultation with Citizen Potawatomi Nation tribal members. JCPRD officials appreciate CPN’s help to reach this important milestone.

“I’m just really grateful for all of the relationship building and the number of participants from Citizen Potawatomi Nation that just really helped guide the process and provided really great input. I think the product is going to be amazing, but the process has been really beautiful to have everybody engaged,” said Susan Mong, JCPRD superintendent of culture.

Finalists carefully selected

Mong said the county recognized the unique nature of this public art project and knew they would need to consult Native American artists for this special work.

“With all of our public art projects, we typically will put an artist call out. In this case, it was across the nation. So, anybody across the United States that had an affiliation with a Native American tribe was invited to apply,” she said.

Three finalists were selected and received the goals of the project and a site visit. The finalists also received a stipend to develop a design.

“It’s always our practice to have or to support three artists and pay them for their creativity to come up with those concepts. We had this wonderful opportunity to share those three proposed designs not only with the community here in Johnson County, but also to bring those three designs down to the Reunion (Festival),” Mong said. “That was really special to engage members of CPN from across the country around those designers and find out what emotions each of the three designs evoked in everybody. That’s so that we can get a sense of what people are gravitating towards.”

Considering the community input, the art selection committee then selected the winner.
“The community input coalesced around who we ended up selecting. There seemed to be a lot of energy around ‘Fire Keepers Circle,’” she said. “All three artists that were finalists were so heartfelt in the time and energy and emotion that they put into creating their proposal.”

Next steps

Mong and other Johnson County officials are working with Yellowbird and Squadroni as the fabrication process begins. Community engagement will continue.

“The design of the piece includes three layers. One is a contemporary layer that has all of these metallic feathers that are meant to have a little movement that will flutter in the wind. The imprints on those feathers are going to be created by members of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation as a way to represent all of those lives and the beauty of the Tribe,” Mong said.

Tribal members will have an opportunity to create a design and submit it to artist Leah Yellowbird. The designs will be imprinted on the metallic feathers of the piece’s contemporary layer.

“That’s going to be a really neat way for people all over the country to make their mark on this piece through those individual feathers,” she said. “We’ll have also opportunities for people from all over the country to send a sentiment or a design or something that represents a loved one or something about their families.”

Installation is tentatively set for June 2025. A ribbon-cutting and celebration is planned for mid- to late July 2025. Mong is eager to welcome CPN visitors as well as Johnson County and other area residents.
Gaining understanding

The park receives more than 800,000 visitors annually. JCPRD officials are also preparing for a large increase in visitors when the 2026 FIFA World Cup visits the region. Mong is hopeful this new art piece will help local and international visitors gain a greater understanding of some aspects of American history.

Mong said many tribal Nations have their own removal stories but not every story is acknowledged. Working on the public art project has helped her gain a greater understanding of history, an experience she hopes others will appreciate.

“It’s been a really great journey for me to just learn about what that next generation is doing to keep the memory, to keep the story and that pride of that connection alive. I’m interested to learn more because I know that this is really the tip of the iceberg of other events that have happened around me and places I grew up,” she said.

In addition to the art, Mong said the county is planning an interpretive panel near the art that will explore some of the history involved. CPN will be involved in the production of the panel as well, she said.

Mong said she’s deeply grateful for the chance to meet Tribal citizens at the 2024 Family Reunion Festival and to connect with the Cultural Heritage Center staff.

“Everyone who did offer feedback at the Family Reunion, each comment was read by our committee and was appreciated,” she said. “I just want to say thank you to the (CPN) community and the staff of the Cultural Center. And for everybody that took time during the Festival to provide that feedback, it was really important and really appreciated.”

To learn more about the Johnson County Heritage Park public art project, visit cpn.news/heritagepark.

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Source: Citizen Potawatomi Nation Blog - Public Art Project Will Soon Take Shape
Direct Link: https://www.potawatomi.org/blog/2024/12/12/public-art-project-will-soon-take-shape/
Archive Link: https://archive.ph/tg0HL

sounds like another Naropa twinkie college

Some of his varied heritage claims:

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his Native American ancestry

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Ceremonial Man

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Sun Dancer, Pipe Carrier, Artist and healer

2024 https://sawdustartfestival.org/artists/andrew-soliz/
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Resident Andrew Soliz, an Acoma Pueblo American Indian, is a sun dancer and comes from a line of medicine men.

archived copy of 2014 article http://web.archive.org/web/20201111190430/https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/tn-cpt-0210-soliz-20120207-story.html
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Soliz, a descendant of the pueblo-dwelling Acoma American Indians and Mayan ancestry, was officially adopted into two Lakota families seven years ago.

2012 http://web.archive.org/web/20151004125703/https://www.lagunabeachindy.com/sweat-lodge-concerns-heat/
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a member of the Lakota Nation

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I am a sun dancer and a pipe carrier. I am Pueblo and Mayan, adopted into the Lakota Nation.

2006 https://www.npr.org/2006/09/29/6166294/every-step-that-i-take-becomes-a-prayer

i am pueblo (also southern ute and chicano)

so if he came from a line of medicine men that would be a pueblo cultural appointment.....why doesnt he practice pueblo medicine ways and serve his people in silence the right way because everyone knows our ways are very private? why would he be a sundancer and pipe carrier for another tribe if he came from such a respected background???

you can say i am an "adopted lakota" too as they all call me kola, and consider me their oyate/tiopsaye and i have 2 lakota exes...they invite me to sweat and to sing.......here is the difference....i would NEVER assume the rights to take thier culture to non-indians.....and when i am invited to sweat/ceremony i always acknowledge i am there as a guest....lets say it again.....GUEST!!!!! never overstep your boundaries

but what do i know? im just a powwow ndn who never got too involved with the actual "religious" side .....i mean i do love my ceremony ndn friends and my protest ndn friends but they are not nearly as fun as my powwow ndn friends

but i do know one thing......those ceremony ndnz (either real of fake) sure do love them some white women which always seem to be in abundance and eat up all the "wisdom" from some "medicine man" sitting crosslegged on some mesa being all spiritual n shit over some plain common powwow ndn who helps elders to their cars and helps with tables and chairs before/after event and giving rides to fellow ndnz on the bus and sponsoring school programs and sponsoring powwow specials (i like sponsoring tiny tots or plain clothes fancy dance for fun) or sell frybread for Indian Education or hang posters and all that......and part of my world is sometimes cooking or helping make things or donate when someone passes that i may not have even known/met but they are in my community or related to someone in my community,,,,,THAT'S what it means to be an NDN....back to first sentence.....exploiting willing women is a recurring theme here

this rant was meant for whoever stumbles here and is enamored by all the hocus-pocus coming from these native or native passing people.......check their background and if you still want....if you want to waste your time and money that bad to feel native i suggest you book a weeklong trip to sedona or something

sorry for the rant.....kinda

on youtube there is a guy called truthscience.......all his videos he goes in on moorons

one of my favorite channels it keeps me in stitches

there is a serious mooron channel there called Mike TV........i hatewatch that sometimes but most days i just cant with him and his guests