Lyda Conley and the Fight to Preserve Huron Indian Cemetery

Join us at Flagship for a conversation with historian Dr. Tai Edwards, one of the editors of the new book, 𝑳𝒚𝒅𝒂 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆 𝑯𝒖𝒓𝒐𝒏 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑪𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒚.
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. This is a deeply rooted regional story that reshapes national narratives of sovereignty, preservation, and women’s rights.
At a moment when conversations about Indigenous and women’s rights are especially urgent, this book offers fresh insight, rigorous scholarship, and a narrative accessible to both scholars and general readers.
Copies of 𝑳𝒚𝒅𝒂 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆 𝑯𝒖𝒓𝒐𝒏 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑪𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒚 will be available to purchase.