Waterlily

Ella Cara Deloria (1889-1971) was a Dakota Indian ethnologist who conducted field research among her own tribe. She thus had the opportunity to interview Indians who still knew the free life on the prairie in their native language and to obtain detailed first-hand information about all aspects of Dakota/Lakota life in the period around the middle of the 19th century. She has incorporated the quintessence of her research into her novel "Waterlily", which depicts the life of Waterlily, a young Dakota, and her family in a lively and captivating way. Everyday life in the tiyošpaye, the association of closely related families within a tent village, is described in all its diversity, as are ceremonies (hunka, sun dance, ...), hunting, adventures of children and young people, fights with hostile tribes, encounters with whites, ... "Waterlily is a unique portrayal of the life of the Sioux Indians of the 19th century. It is unparalleled in its interpretation of Plains Indian culture from the perspective of women."-Raymond J. DeMallie.