Lulu G. Stillman

Stillman was born to Anthony Glominski and Louisa VonKirchfield Glominski in Brooklyn, New York.[1][2] In her later life, Stillman lived in Troy, New York.[3]

From 1919 to 1922 she was the stenographer and chief researcher of the Everett Commission under Edward A. Everett. Historian Laurence M. Hauptman credits the report, which concluded that the Iroquois had a legal right to 6,000,000 acres (2,400,000 ha) of land in New York as a result of treaties signed in the late 18th century, as being "largely the work of Lulu Stillman".[4][5] The report was rejected by the New York State Legislature and was not widely published or distributed.[4][5]

After the commission was ended in 1922, Stillman continued her advocacy with and for the Iroquois. She was a spokesperson of the tribes and negotiated with various governmental agencies. In July 1934, the Tuscarora Nation adopted her into the Beaver Clan and gave her the name "Yon-dio-che-yoo", or "true friend".[1] She became a major critic of John Collier and the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of 1934 and was noted for having "distrust" in the intentions of both New York state and the federal government. Stillman maintained that instead of new legislation, such as the IRA, treaties that had been signed long before should be honored.[3]

On April 16, 1934, Stillman published an open letter addressed to Iroquois leaders that criticized the IRA as legislation that would not actually help Native tribes and warned of a movement that would seek to "allot your lands and that means taxes in the future, citizenship and loss of the little lands that remain in your inheritance." Hauptman describes her by the 1930s as "the most respected outsider in Iroquois political circles who had supported the long crusade to win their lands back".[6] Her work, along with that of Alice Lee Jemison, has been credited with "killing" the IRA in New York.[7]

Stillman also worked for the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as a secretary.[1]

The Everett report was not published until 1971, from a copy that was preserved by Stillman. She donated her papers to Helen Upton who was researching the report and eventually published a book on it.[8]

Stillman was married to Ernest E. Stillman, a dentist, around 1904, until she applied for divorce in 1921.[2] The couple had one daughter.[9] Stillman attended the Christ Methodist Church. She died in Troy on July 4, 1969, and was buried at Oakwood Cemetery.[1]

• Hauptman, Laurence M. (1981). The Iroquois and the New Deal. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 978-0-8156-2247-5.
• Hauptman, Laurence M. (2016). The Oneida Indian in Foreign Waters. Syracuse University Press.

• Upton, Helen M (1980). The Everett report in historical perspective: the Indians of New York. New York State American Revolution Bicentennial Commission. OCLC 6334964.