The inspiring story of Lyda Conley, the first Indigenous woman to argue a case before the United States Supreme Court and a trailblazing lawyer and activist who defended the burials of her Wyandot family and ancestors in Kansas City's Huron Indian Cemetery. Driven by primary sources and oral histories, this biography and source reader is the definitive work on this remarkable woman. For fifty years, Eliza ("Lyda") Conley and her two older sisters, Helena and Ida, protected the Huron Indian Cemetery in Kansas City, Kansas, now known as the Wyandot National Burying Ground. A member of the Wyandot Nation of Kansas, Lyda Conley is the first Indigenous woman to argue a case before the United States Supreme Court, where she established legal precedents used to protect Indigenous sovereignty today. In conjunction with her legal fight, Conley and her sisters spent years physically defending their ancestors' burials by building a shack in the cemetery they called "Fort Conley." When a US Marshal tore down their fort in 1911, the sisters simply built another one. While they occupied the grounds, they also tended to cemetery upkeep, maintaining it in pristine condition between 1907 and 1922. Finally, under the leadership of Kansas senator-and future vice president under Herbert Hoover-Charles Curtis, a member of the Kaw Nation, Congress passed legislation to prevent sale or development of the cemetery's land in 1913. Unfortunately, the cemetery needed defending decades later when the Wyandotte Nation (of Oklahoma) attempted to open a casino on the cemetery grounds in the 1990s. The Conley sisters' Wyandot Nation of Kansas relatives used similar strategies to protect the cemetery once again. Using primary sources, including images, oral histories, and art, as well as scholarly analysis, Stephanie Bennett, Samantha Gill, and Tai S. Edwards tell the story of Lyda Conley, her sisters, and their perseverance. This book stands as a testament to the Conley sisters, who demonstrated the resilience and courage of Indigenous women who resisted colonialism and protected Indigenous sovereignty, blazing a trail for future generations.
Stephanie Bennett is a citizen of the Wyandot Nation of Kansas and the niece of chief emeritus Janith English. She has been working with the Wyandot Nation of Kansas to preserve and raise awareness of the cemetery since the 1980s. Samantha Gill is the Adult Services Manager at Hays Public Library in Hays, Kansas, and earned a master's degree in history from Fort Hays State University in 2016, where she began her research on Lyda Conley's life and work. Tai S. Edwards is a professor of history and director of the Kansas Studies Institute at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas. She is the author of Osage Women and Empire: Gender and Power, also from the University Press of Kansas.
"This book provides a unique window into not only the important life of Lyda Conley, but the wider historical context of the Wyandot Nation of Kansas as well. Generational resilience and the legacy of Conley's actions to preserve Wyandot culture and traditions is highlighted in a way that has never been done before. Tizameh (thank you) for this incredible collection!"-Kathryn Magee Labelle, author of Daughters of Aataentsic: Life Stories from Seven Generations "A fascinating and rich introduction to an important woman whose story is far too unfamiliar to most Americans. This gem of a book should start to make Lyda Conley a household name."-Kathleen DuVal, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Native Nations: A Millennium in North America "This volume offers a powerful and richly detailed portrait of Lyda Conley, a remarkable yet often overlooked figure in Native American legal history. Through vivid photographs, oral histories, newspaper accounts, and thoughtful scholarly analysis, Conley's courageous and trailblazing fight to protect the Huron Indian Cemetery is brought to life with clarity and reverence. Her legacy as a passionate advocate for Native sovereignty and sacred spaces shines throughout these pages."-Sarah Deer, author of The Beginning and End of Rape: Confronting Sexual Violence in Native America "This book makes a profound intervention into twentieth century histories of Native American activism, showcasing the oftentimes overlooked, but crucial role played by Native women in upholding the sovereignty of their tribes before the law, and on the ground. At once a page-turner and a deeply researched historical source reader, this book weaves together oral history, documentary evidence, and scholarly analysis with such expert care and attention to the voices and agency of the women at the heart of this history. Anyone teaching historical methodology, Native American history, or histories of activism will find immense value in this deeply layered and detailed study of an intergenerational activist and community struggle to protect land, ancestors, sovereignty, and historical memory."-Maria John, author of Sovereign Bodies, Sovereign Spaces: Urban Indigenous Health Activism in the United States and Australia
