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Robert J. Conley was a Cherokee author and enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation, a federally recognized tribe of American Indians. In 2007, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers' Circle of the Americas.
Conley was born in Cushing, Oklahoma, and died in Sylva, North Carolina. He is noted for depictions of precontact and historical Cherokee figures. He is known for a series of books called the Real People Series. The sixth of the series, The Dark Island won the Spur Award for best Western novel in 1995. He also won two other Spur Awards, in 1988 for the short story "Yellow Bird", and in 1992 for the novel Nickajack. Robert Conley became the first American Indian to lead Western Writers of America at Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, North Carolina in 2010.
University mourns death of Conley February 18, 2014 | More Sharing ServicesShare| Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on emailShare on print Noted Native American scholar and author Robert J. Conley, the Sequoyah Distinguished Professor of Cherokee Studies at Western Carolina University, died Sunday, Feb. 16, 2014, at Harris Regional Hospital after a period of declining health. Conley, 73, a registered tribal member of the Cherokee Nation, was appointed to the WCU professorship in July 2008.
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