The Omakyehstih Collective, citizens of Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma, honors the history they share with Wyandot Nation of Kansas in Trespassers Beware! Fort Conley and Wyandot Women Warriors. This traveling art installation enlivens the harrowing tale of how three sisters–Lyda, Helena and Ida Conley–ignored their own safety to protect the Wyandot National Burying Ground (formerly Huron Indian Cemetery). During Kansas City’s early days, profiteers tried to destroy the cemetery, which stood in the way of “progress.” These three heroic women were determined to stop them from digging up their ancestors’ graves. They built a make-shift shelter, dubbed Fort Conley and occupied the land for years to stop the shovels, battling prejudice, greed, opportunism and denied sacred rights. Guided by their Clan Mothers, the sisters stepped up as leaders and culture keepers to defend against erasure, displacement, and stolen sovereignty, ultimately taking their pleas to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The story travels across time and space, taking visitors on a journey through Wyandot/Wyandotte history and their impact on Kansas City. Embracing visual arts, audioscape and film, the Collective uses high-tech immersion, capturing nature’s sounds, video, architectural replication and storytelling, mixed with traditional and contemporary Native music. This multimedia experience, designed with indoor and outdoor engagement, provides multiple entry points for accessibility, where visitors go inside a Fort Conley replica to witness the stark conditions the sisters endured: Tight quarters, suffering weather, isolation—surrounded by foes trying to force them out. Once outside, visitors feel the expansive world of traditional Wyandot/Wyandotte life in nature.

Trespassers Beware! remembers the determination, strength and courage that the Conley sisters manifested to protect their kinspeople’s final home–Souls at rest echoing perseverance of Indigenous People across time. Through public art we honor their legacy.