Lilakai (Lily) Julian Neil (1900 – 1961) was the first woman elected to the Navajo Tribal Council. After a serious automobile accident, she withdrew from public service. In September 1947, Neil wrote a letter to Mr. Beatty, the General Director of Indian Education for the Education Division of the Department of the Interior. In her letter she was critical of the double bind placed upon the Navajo residents in the chapter that she represented (Delegate to the Navajo Nation Tribal Council, district 19). On the one hand the government encouraged the Navajos to get education so that they could get better employment and become self-sufficient. On the other hand, the government neglected agreements to supply adequate education and schools placed roadblocks to Navajos getting the necessary educat