A ribbon cutting and celebration is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Saturday, July 19, in Heritage Park in Olathe for a new artwork commemorating the Potawatomi Trail of Death.

The concept for the statue, called “Fire Keepers Circle,” was selected in 2024 from among proposals submitted by 11 native artists with a tribal affiliation. From those 11 submissions, a Johnson County Park and Recreation art selection committee awarded the this public art project.

The artwork was created by Native American artists Leah Yellowbird and Aaron Squadroni of Grand Rapids, Minn., and also incorporates 45 feather designs submitted from Potawatomie tribal members from 21 states. The statue will be located near Heritage Park’s marina building.

Tribal member and musician Elexa Dawson is composing an original song, which she will perform during the ribbon-cutting celebration.

The monument marks the location of a local encampment along the Trail of Death of 1838 when 859 Potawatomi Native Americans were forced to march from Indiana to an area near present-day Osawatomie, Kansas.