James Young Deer

James Young Deer (date unknown-April 1946), born J. Younger Johnston and also known as Jim Young Deer, was an early Native American film actor, director, writer, and producer. With his wife and partner, Lillian St. Cyr, they were an "influential force" in the production of one-reel Westerns during the first part of the silent film era. [http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Independent-Film-Road-Movies/Race-and-Ethnicity-HOLLYWOOD-WHITENESS-AND-STEREOTYPES.html "Race and Ethnicity, HOLLYWOOD WHITENESS AND STEREOTYPES] ," Filmreference.com, accessed May 24, 2008.]

Early life

Born J. Younger Johnston in Dakota City, Nebraska, Young Deer was a member of the Nebraska Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) tribe. He began his entertainment career in the 1890s with the Barnum and Bailey Circus and Miller Brothers' 101 Ranch Wild West Show. [http://www.nsea.org/news/StCyrYoungDeerProfile.htm "Lillian St. Cyr (Princess Red Wing) and James Young Deer: First Native American Silent Movie 'Power Couple'"] Nebraska State Education Association profile, access May 24, 2008.]

On April 9, 1906 he married actress Lillian St. Cyr, known by her stage name of Princess Red Wing. St. Cyr was also a member of the Nebraska Ho-Chunk tribe.

Career

Young Deer began acting and directing in in either 1908, completing several one-reeler Westerns that year. Among the film companies for which he worked as an actor, director, and writer were Kalem, Lubin, Vitagraph, and Biograph. He also worked at one of the first independent film companies, the New York Motion Picture Company, under the Bison trademark. He eventually ran the West Coast studio operations for the French-owned film company Pathé Frères.

In all, Young Deer acted, wrote, or directed dozens of early films.

Impact of work

Young Deer's films were noted for being early Westerns "without the cliches of hostile Indian warriors or wagon train attacks." [ [http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/NativeAmericans.html "Native Americans: The Surprising Silents"] (Race in Contemporary American Cinema: Part 4) by Angela Aleiss, Cineaste v21, n3 (Summer, 1995):34 (2 pages).] The ability of Young Deer and St. Cyr to avoid the "inaccuracies and negative stereotypes" of how Native American were portrayed onscreen was due to several factors, including the calls for more authenticity in westerns from film trade journals, protests by Native Americans and other moviegoers, and the early flexibility of the film industry. As a result, Young Deer and St. Cyr "rewrote the racial scripts of the western, commenting on racism, assimilation, racial mixture, and cultural contact. Many of their films revisited and revised the wildly popular 'squaw man' plot involving a crossracial romance between an Indian woman and white man. Young Deer and Lillian St. Cyr systematically undermined the 'vanishing Indian' trope by giving the plots a new political center of gravity."

Later years

After some type of legal troubles came up in California in 1913, Young Deer moved to Europe. During World War I he created documentaries in France. After returning to the United States in 1919, he worked occasionally as a "second-unit director on independently produced low budget B-movies and serials." Young Deer died in New York City in April 1946.

Films

Director

* Lieutenant Daring RN and the Water Rats (1924)
* The Stranger (1920/I) (as James Youngdeer)
* Who Laughs Last (1920)
* The Savage (1913)
* The Unwilling Bride (1912)
* The Squaw Man's Sweetheart (1912)
* Red Deer's Devotion (1911)
* The Yaqui Girl (1910)
* Cowboy Justice (1910)
* An Indian's Gratitude (1910)
* A Cheyenne Brave (1910)
* The Red Girl and the Child (1910)
* Under Both Flags (1910)
* White Fawn's Devotion: A Play Acted by a Tribe of Red Indians in America (1910) (uncredited)
* Red Wing's Gratitude (1909)
* For Her Sale; or, Two Sailors and a Girl (1909)
* The Falling Arrow (1909)

Actor

* Man of Courage (1922) .... Aquila
* Under Handicap (1917) (as James Youngdeer) .... Lonesome Pete
* Against Heavy Odds (1914)
* The Unwilling Bride (1912)
* Little Dove's Romance (1911)
* Red Deer's Devotion (1911)
* Young Deer's Return (1910) .... Young Deer
* The Red Girl and the Child (1910)
* The Indian and the Cowgirl (1910)
* The Cowboy and the Schoolmarm (1910)
* Young Deer's Gratitude (1910) .... Young Deer
* The Ten of Spades; or, A Western Raffle (1910)
* Young Deer's Bravery (1909) .... Young Deer
* Red Wing's Gratitude (1909)
* The Mended Lute (1909) .... Indian
* The True Heart of an Indian (1909) ... aka A True Indian's Heart (USA)

Writer

* Lieutenant Daring RN and the Water Rats (1924) (writer)
* Neck and Noose (1919) (story) (as Jim Youngdeer)
* White Fawn's Devotion: A Play Acted by a Tribe of Red Indians in America (1910) (uncredited)

Notes

External links

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