Celebrating Native American Heritage Month: Lyda Conley, first Native American woman to argue before the US Supreme Court

Eliza Burton "Lyda" Conley, born 1869, was the first Native American (Wyandot) to argue a case before the US Supreme Court. She was raised on a farm in what is now Wyandotte County in Kansas.  Lyda graduated from the Kansas City School of Law in 1902 and was the first woman admitted to the Kansas Bar Association. 

In the late 19th century, the US government was offering citizenship, but only if they gave up their tribal institutions.  Many Wyandots accepted these terms and stayed in Kansas but many did not and moved to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma).  In 1906, the Wyandotte Nation in Indian Territory approved the sale of the Huron Cemetery in Wyandotte County where Lyda Conley's ancestors were buried.  

Lyda and her two sisters rejected the sale and began to protect it, even building a structure in it for them to live in, so they could protect the cemetery around the clock.  Lyda finally took her case to the US Supreme Court. She lost her case but her cause had gained much support.  In 1916, Kansas Senator Charles Curtis (Kaw/Osage/Prairie Potawatomi) introduced a bill in Congress that precluded the sale of the cemetery and designated it a federal park.

Lyda passed away in 1946 due to injuries from an attack, in which a man hit her on the head and stole her purse.  She was buried in the cemetery she fought so hard to save.

In 1971, the Huron Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  In December 2016, it became a National Historic Landmark.