Background
Conley was born in Cushing, Oklahoma and died in Muskogee, Oklahoma.
Conley was born in Cushing, Oklahoma and died in Muskogee, Oklahoma.
He is noted for depictions of precontact and historical Cherokee figures. He is known for a series of books called the Real People Series. Robert became the first American Indian to lead Western Writers of America at Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, North Carolina in 2010.
In 2007, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers" Circle of the Americas. The sixth of the series, The Dark Island (1996) won the Spur Award for best Western novel in 1995. He has also won two other Spur Awards, in 1988 for the short story "Yellow Bird", and in 1992 for the novel Nickajack.
