Lyda Conley
Encyclopedia
Huron Cemetery
The Huron Indian Cemetery in Kansas City, Kansas, also known as Huron Park Cemetery, is now formally known as the Wyandot National Burying Ground. It was established circa 1843, when Wyandots had first arrived in their removal from Ohio. The tribe settled in the area for years, with many in 1855...
in Kansas City
Kansas City, Kansas
Kansas City is the third-largest city in the state of Kansas and is the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the third largest city in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The city is part of a consolidated city-county government known as the "Unified...
, now known as the Wyandot National Burying Ground. She challenged the government in court, and in 1909 she was the first Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
woman admitted to argue a case before the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
.
Her case appears to be the first in which "a plaintiff argued that the burying grounds of Native Americans were entitled to federal protection." Conley gained the support of Kansas Senator Charles Curtis
Charles Curtis
Charles Curtis was a United States Representative, a longtime United States Senator from Kansas later chosen as Senate Majority Leader by his Republican colleagues, and the 31st Vice President of the United States...
, who proposed and led passage of legislation in 1916 to prevent the sale and establish the Huron Cemetery as a federal park. In 1971 the Huron Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
From the late 19th century, the cemetery was at the heart of a struggle between the present-day Wyandot Nation of Kansas and the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma
Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma
The Wyandotte Nation is a federally recognized Native American tribe in Oklahoma. They are descendants of the Wendat Confederacy and Native Americans with territory near Georgian Bay and Lake Huron...
. In 1998 the two groups finally came to agreement to preserve the Wyandot National Burying Ground only for religious, cultural and related purposes in keeping with its sacred history.
Early life
Lyda Conley was the youngest of four daughters born to Elizabeth Burton ZaneZane family
The Zane family was important to the early history and settlement of the U.S. state of Ohio. The brothers Ebenezer and Isaac Zane laid out sections of the Ohio Territory, including the municipalities of Zanesville and Zanesfield...
Conley (1838–1879), a multi-racial member of the Wyandot Nation. Their father was Andrew Syrenus Conley (about 1830-1885), a Yankee
Yankee
The term Yankee has several interrelated and often pejorative meanings, usually referring to people originating in the northeastern United States, or still more narrowly New England, where application of the term is largely restricted to descendants of the English settlers of the region.The...
of Scots-Irish and English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
descent, who migrated west from New Canaan, Connecticut
New Canaan, Connecticut
New Canaan is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, northeast of Stamford, on the Fivemile River. The population was 19,738 according to the 2010 census.The town is one of the most affluent communities in the United States...
to Ohio and Kansas. Her family history was typical of the Wyandot nation then, as over the years many members had married European Americans, and members were increasingly multiracial. Her family's moves west were also typical of the Wyandots' need to have a place outside of European-American encroachment.
Elizabeth Zane was the granddaughter of Isaac Zane
Zanesfield, Ohio
Zanesfield is a village in Logan County, Ohio, United States of America. The population was 220 at the 2000 census. It is the smallest incorporated village in Logan County.-History:...
, who had been captured as a child in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
by the Wyandots and adopted into the tribe. Isaac Zane lived with the Wyandot nation for 17 years and married White Crane, daughter of Chief Tarhe. They went with the Wyandot to Ohio, where Zane founded Zanesfield
Zanesfield, Ohio
Zanesfield is a village in Logan County, Ohio, United States of America. The population was 220 at the 2000 census. It is the smallest incorporated village in Logan County.-History:...
. Some of their children were born there, including Elizabeth's mother Hannah, and grandchildren, such as Elizabeth herself. In 1843 the Wyandots left Ohio and migrated to Kansas in a removal under United States government pressure.
Elizabeth Zane and Andrew Conley married 1860 at Logan County, Ohio
Logan County, Ohio
Logan County is a county in the state of Ohio, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 45,858. The county seat is Bellefontaine. The county is named for Benjamin Logan, who fought Native Americans in the area....
. They raised their daughters on a 64 acre (0.25899904 km²)-farm in present-day Wyandotte County. Elizabeth had received the land at age 17 in 1855, when Wyandot tribal land was allocated in severalty. (Later the property collapsed into the Missouri River and the grown sisters moved into Kansas City.) With their variety of heritage, the Conley daughters were one-sixteenth Wyandot, and some parts Scots-Irish and English.
The daughters were encouraged to seek education. Helena (also known as Lena) graduated from Park College in Missouri. Lyda Conley graduated from Kansas City School of Law in 1902 and was the first woman admitted to the Kansas bar. Sarah died at a relatively young age. Ida, Helena/Lena and Lyda were active in civic and public life. They shared a house in Kansas City, where they lived all their lives together. None married.
Background
In 1855 some of the Wyandots accepted the government's offer of United States citizenship, as they were judged ready to join the majority society. Their land in Kansas was divided among the individuals. Members who were not ready to give up their tribal institutions migrated from Kansas in 1867 and went to Oklahoma as part of the 19th century removals. There they kept some tribal structure, and retained legal authority over the tribal communal burying ground, the Huron CemeteryHuron Cemetery
The Huron Indian Cemetery in Kansas City, Kansas, also known as Huron Park Cemetery, is now formally known as the Wyandot National Burying Ground. It was established circa 1843, when Wyandots had first arrived in their removal from Ohio. The tribe settled in the area for years, with many in 1855...
in Kansas.
In 1906, the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma
Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma
The Wyandotte Nation is a federally recognized Native American tribe in Oklahoma. They are descendants of the Wendat Confederacy and Native Americans with territory near Georgian Bay and Lake Huron...
approved sale of the cemetery for development, and had Congress authorize the United States Secretary of Interior to convey it for sale, with proceeds to go to the nation in Oklahoma. Kansas City had grown around it, and developers wanted to expand on the prime property. At one corner was a Carnegie Library
Carnegie Library
Carnegie Library, Carnegie Public Library, Carnegie Free Library, Carnegie Free Public Library, Andrew Carnegie Library, Andrew Carnegie Free Library or Carnegie Library Building may refer to any of the following Carnegie libraries:- California :*Carnegie Library , listed on the National Register...
, the Brund Hotel was on another corner, and the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple was under reconstruction following a fire.
Conley's cause
When this controversy arose, the Wyandot descendants in Kansas City were considered an “absentee” or “citizen class” of the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma, and did not have legal control of the burial ground. In 1855 they had accepted United States citizenship and land allotments in Kansas. The burial ground had been excluded from the allotments, and as American Indian land, it was considered to be controlled by the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma, which has tribal government. The historic burying ground held Conley‘s maternal ancestors and others of both the present-day Wyandotte Nation of Kansas and the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma. The earliest burials dated to 1843, when the tribe had first come to Kansas.Conley and her sisters strongly disagreed with the proposed sale. They erected a structure at the cemetery so they could live there around the clock and protect the burial ground. They took turns standing guard with muskets, and put up “No trespassing” signs around it.
Kansas City newspapers covered the controversy. Kansas City Times
Kansas City Times
The Kansas City Times was a morning newspaper in Kansas City, Missouri, that was published from 1867 to 1990.The morning Kansas City Times, under ownership of afternoon The Kansas City Star, won two Pulitzer Prizes and was actually bigger than its parent when its name was changed to the...
(October 25, 1906):
In 1907 Conley filed a petition in the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
for injunction against the government's authorization of sale. The court ruled against the Conleys, so she appealed. The case went to the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
, where Conley was allowed to argue the case directly before the court. Because she had not been admitted to the Supreme Court bar, she appeared in court acting in propria persona (in her own person). She was the first female Native American lawyer admitted before the U.S. Supreme Court. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932...
ruled in favor of the lower courts, which had determined the government's proposed action was legal.
As the case gained national attention, the Conley sisters worked to build other kinds of support. Women's clubs in Kansas City and similar associations strongly opposed development of the cemetery. US Senator Charles Curtis
Charles Curtis
Charles Curtis was a United States Representative, a longtime United States Senator from Kansas later chosen as Senate Majority Leader by his Republican colleagues, and the 31st Vice President of the United States...
of Kansas, also of mixed Native American ancestry, introduced a bill in Congress that precluded the sale of the cemetery and made the land a national park. This was passed in 1916 and the cemetery was protected.
Protecting the cemetery
The Conley sisters believed that it was wrong to sell and dismantle the cemetery. Their grandmother Hannah Zane, mother Elizabeth and sister Sarah were buried there, as well as numerous cousins, uncles, and aunts. The revolt of the three sisters got underway in 1907, after plans broached the previous year for the city's purchase of the Huron cemetery for private redevelopment as retail property. The CongressUnited States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
had authorized its sale by the Secretary of the Interior in 1905 (1906).
The Conley sisters announced that they would protect the graves of their ancestors with shotguns, if necessary. They marched to the cemetery and threw up a 6' by 8' one-room frame shack and moved in. H.B. Durante, Indian Commissioner, commented that it was a unique situation because of the conflict between two groups of Wyandot over the land. Only one had federal recognition for legal responsibility. He suggested it was up to the Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
and Federal troops to solve it.
Congress' decision
In 1913 Congress repealed the bill authorizing the sale of the cemetery. The dispute between those wanting to preserve the cemetery, and those wanting to develop the land continued. One year Lyda Conley was arrested for shooting a policeman in the Huron Indian Cemetery.Although she lost in the Supreme Court, Conley persevered in her fight, gaining support for preservation from women's clubs and civic associations in Kansas City. In 1916 Kansas Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Charles Curtis
Charles Curtis
Charles Curtis was a United States Representative, a longtime United States Senator from Kansas later chosen as Senate Majority Leader by his Republican colleagues, and the 31st Vice President of the United States...
introduced a bill in Congress (and secured its passage) that precluded sale of the cemetery and designated it a federal park.
Later life
With the land protected, Conley acted as a guardian over the property, extending her care to its birds and squirrels. She often walked from her home at 1816 North Third street to carry water and nuts to them. The federal government had agreed to keep the cemetery "improved" by entering into a 1918 contract with Kansas City to forever maintain, protect and provide lighting and police protection to the cemetery.In June 1937, Conley chased some people from the cemetery. She was charged by the police with disturbance. A young judge gave her choice of a $10 fine for disturbing the peace or a 10-day jail sentence. Proudly Conley served the sentence. A newspaper item of June 16, 1937, headed "Miss Lyda Conley Leaves Jail", was the last article about her until the notice of her death in 1946.
Conley was buried near family at the Wyandot Burying Ground on May 31, 1946.
Final resolution
Groups continued to press for development. In 1959 the Wyandot Nation of Kansas incorporated and was recognized as a legal tribe by the state, but still had no control over the Huron Cemetery. It has been seeking federal recognition.Over the decades Kansas City and the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma floated many proposals for development of the cemetery. Preservation groups succeeded in 1971 in having the Huron Cemetery listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in recognition of its significant historical and cultural value.
That only made new proposals more complicated to implement, but groups continued to put them forward. The development of gaming as revenue generators for Native Americans added new pressure. In the 1990s the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma evaluated the Huron Cemetery for redevelopment as a gaming casino. New protections under the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act , Pub. L. 101-601, 25 U.S.C. 3001 et seq., 104 Stat. 3048, is a United States federal law passed on 16 November 1990 requiring federal agencies and institutions that receive federal funding to return Native American "cultural items" to...
would have required agreement by lineal descendants of people interred at the cemetery. Those in Kansas City were strongly set against any development. Finally in 1998 the Wyandot Nation of Kansas and Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma came to agreement to preserve the cemetery only for purposes that were religious, cultural and in keeping with its sacred use.
Announcement of Film about Conley
Ben KingsleyBen Kingsley
Sir Ben Kingsley, CBE is a British actor. He has won an Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards in his career. He is known for starring as Mohandas Gandhi in the film Gandhi in 1982, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor...
announced 2008 to produce a film about Lyda Conley's life under the title Whispers Like Thunder. Kingsley plans to act as Senator Charles Curtis. Screenplay is written by Trip Brook and Luis Moro
Luis Moro
Luis Moro is a Cuban-born American actor, filmmaker, and writer. He first gained notability for co-writing, producing and acting in the film Anne B. Real, which was nominated for two Independent Spirit Award...
.
External links
- “The Inns of UNKC: Lyda Conley (1874-1946)”, University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Law
- “The Conley Sisters”, People Collection, Kansas City Public Library