Huron Indian Cemetery

Kansas City, KS

Huron Indian Cemetery

631 Minnesota. Ten large plaques on 7th recount the history of the Wyandotte Nation. The cemetery was established in 1843 after the forced migration of the Wyandot Nation from Ohio. The many who died from typhoid fever and cholera were carried to this point overlooking the Missouri and Kansas Rivers. Although more than 400 Wyandots are buried here, only 120 graves are marked, including those of the Conley sisters (Eliza and Helena). For three years in 1907 the two sisters camped on the cemetery grounds to protest the sale of the cemetery for commercial use. In 1910 Eliza argued the sisters’ case before the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming the first woman of American Indian descent to argue before the Court. Although the Court was sympathetic, she lost the case. Even so, public opinion and community support prevented the sale of the cemetery. In 1913 Senator Charles Curtis from Kansas, himself part Kanza Indian, persuaded Congress to repeal the sale authorization. The wall on 7th was constructed by the WPA in 1935.

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