Lyda Conley and the fight to preserve Huron Indian Cemetery : with sources and oral histories / edited by Stephanie Bennett, Samantha Gill, Tai S. Edwards.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Bennett, Stephanie, 1970- (Wyandot Indian), editor.

Gill, Samantha, editor.

Edwards, Tai S., editor.

Series:

Lyda Conley series on trailblazing indigenous futures

Lyda Conley series on trailblazing Indigenous futures

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women lawyers--Kansas--Kansas City.

Women lawyers.

Wyandot Indians--Kansas--Kansas City.

Wyandot Indians.

Wyandot Indians--Government relations.

Cemeteries--Law and legislation--Kansas--Kansas City.

Cemeteries.

Conley, Lyda, 1868-1946.

Conley, Lyda.

Huron Indian Cemetery (Kansas City, Kan.).

Wyandot National Burying Ground.

Kansas City (Kan.)--History.

Kansas City (Kan.).

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

vii, 241 pages : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Lawrence, Kansas : University Press of Kansas, [2026]

Summary:

"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"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Lyda Conley and the Fight to Preserve Huron Indian Cemetery / Samantha Gill

Photographs, Maps, and Images

"It's a Continuing Wyandot Woman Battle' : An Oral History with Chief Judith Manthe of the Wyandot Nation of Kansas

Treaty of 1855

Federal Building Site, 1899

Act Authorizing Sale of the Cemetery, 1906

Lyda Conley's Amended Bill of Complaint for Injunction, 1907

"Will Fight to End," 1907

Fort Conley and Defense of the Cemetery, 1907

Conley Girls to Fight, 1909

Living in the City of the Dead, 1909

National Newspaper Coverage of Conley's Supreme Court Case, 1909

Lyda Conley's Testimony to the Supreme Court of the United States, 1910

US Supreme Court Ruling in Conley v. Ballinger, 1910

Fort Conley Fallen, 1911

Actions of Congress, 1912-1919

Conflict over Upkeep of the Cemetery, 1918

Controversies in the Cemetery, 1922

On Behalf of Ben Long Ear and the Incarcerated

The Passing of Lyda Conley, 1946

The Passing of Ida Conley, 1948

The Passing of Helena Conley, 1958

"Warriors Are the Protectors" : Holly Zane and Kristen Zane on Wyandot Legal Battles and Protecting the Cemetery Again in the 1990s

The Cemetery and a Casino, 1990s-2000s

"Freedom Is the Right to a Self-Determination That Is Willing to Advocate for the Rights of Others" : An Oral History with Chief Emeritus Janith English of the Wyandot Nation of Kansas

"As a Young Wyandotte, a Part of My Life's Work Is to Contribute, in Some Way, to Reunification of Our People" : Madeline Easley on How She Uses Theater and Magical Realism to Convey Wyandot/Wyandotte History

Representatives for Those at Peace : Excerpts from Madeline Easley's Play

"Lyda Has Brought a Sense of Identity to Us as a Tribe, but Also to Us as Women" : Stephanie and Macy Bennett Discuss Their Ancestor.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780700641215

0700641211

OCLC:

1536332303

Publisher Number:

90104363459