Background
She and her husband James Young Deer have been dubbed by some as the first Native American Hollywood "power couple." She was born into the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska on the Winnebago Reservation.
She and her husband James Young Deer have been dubbed by some as the first Native American Hollywood "power couple." She was born into the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska on the Winnebago Reservation.
Lillian attended the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania and later moved to Washington, District of Columbia
A native of Washington, District of Columbia, Young Deer served in the Navy during the Spanish–American War. In 1908, Lillian appeared in two short film, Kalem"s The White Squaw and Lubin"s The Falling Arrow. In the summer of 1909, they worked as technical advisers and as extras for two films directed by Doctorate.W. Griffith.
Lilian also appeared in Vitagraph"s Red Wing"s Gratitude that fall.
Concurrently, however, they worked for Bison films (New York Motion Picture Company), which relocated from New York to Edendale, in the fall of 1909. Saint Cyr is best known for her lead role in The Squaw Manitoba (1914) by producer/director Cecil B. DeMille and co-directed by Oscar Apfel, released in 1914.
This was followed by a role with cowboy star Tom Mix in In the Days of the Thundering Herd (1914) and another in Fighting Bob (1915). The 1916 version of Ramona featured Saint Cyr as Ramona"s mother.
From 1908-1921, Saint Cyr performed in more than 35 short Western films.
She retired from acting in the 1920s and settled in New York City. She was buried in Saint Augustine Cemetery in Nebraska. The Red Wing (song) was supposedly connected with and often performed by her, although film historians question this.
Young Deer was a Euro-African American with Delaware Indian ancestry (according to Street Cyr) and was of member of the Nanticoke tribe.