Lillian St. Cyr, who took the name Princess Red Wing (frequently rendered as Redwing), Moving Picture World, 1912.
Throughout much of her life, Lillian Margaret St. Cyr felt caught between two worlds as she tried to bridge Native American and white cultures, often feeling out of place in both groups. The daughter of a Native American mother and a father of mixed ancestry, she attended Indian schools that attempted to drain Native American beliefs, spirituality, and attitudes from their students rather than honoring and respecting their culture, leaving the young people feeling disrespected, lost, never fully succeeding in either culture.
Though St. Cyr was light-skinned, most whites considered her a Native American, while many indigenous peoples found her too white in her attitudes, dress, and way of talking. Not long after moving into the entertainment field, St. Cyr adopted the new persona and name Princess Red Wing to more easily “pass” and be cast in better, larger roles where she could provide positive role models of Native Americans to general culture. Continue reading
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