This episode features the series editors, Farina King, Kiara Vigil, and Tai Edwards, of a new university press series related to Native American Studies. The University Press of Kansas is launching The Lyda Conley Series on Trailblazing Indigenous Futures, which King, Vigil, and Edwards highlight. This is one of the first press series named after a Native American woman.

Lyda Conley’s life and experiences are inspirational as one of the first Native American women known to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court, which she did in defense of her Indigenous ancestors and people. Her case was also one of the first in which “a plaintiff argued that the burying grounds of Native Americans were entitled to federal protection.” One of Farina King’s students, Sarah (Wood) Fite James, brought Lyda Conley to Farina’s attention in her class research project, which the Museum of Native American History features on its website.

Please contact UPK senior editor David Congdon if you have any questions about the series and want to submit a proposal: [email protected].

Links:

Press release posted on October 6, 2022

A video presentation about Lyda Conley by Sarah (Wood) Fite James

Bio of Tai Edwards

Kansas Studies Institute webpage: https://www.jccc.edu/about/leadership-governance/faculty/scholarly-research/kansas-studies-institute/

UPK Lyda Conley Series on Trailblazing Indigenous Futures webpage: https://kansaspress.ku.edu/search-grid/?series=lyda-conley-series-on-trailblazing-indigenous-futures

Video Recording of the 29 March 2022 conversation with Sarah Deer, Kiara Vigil, Farina King, and Tai Edwards about the Kansas Open Books with Open Access Publishing and the Future of Native and Indigenous Studies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6X5bgFqD9A

4 April 2022 article of "The Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe/Sacred Red Rock Project Receives Mellon Monuments Grant": https://www.robinsonpark1929.com/