Ella Deloria Waterlily Analysis

Ella Cara Deloria, Waterlily (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2009; new edition) 251pgs

Ella Cara Deloria (Yankton Nakota) whose translated Dakota name means Beautiful day, was born in 1887.She was born on the Yankton Siuox reservation in South Dakota. Delioria was brought up as a protestant and had strong ties to her cultural upbringing, which were huge influences on her.( http://voices.cla.umn.edu/artistpages/deloriaElla.php) Deloria was a member of one of the most influential and educated American-Indian families, her grandfather was a tribal leader; her father was a deacon in the reservation's Episcopal mission church.(vii) With the intention to become a teacher she first enrolled in Oberlin College in 1910 and then 1913 she
Bluebird, is the mother of Waterlily, whose role is to be a good wife, and mother as well as being hospitable and respectful to the sisters and mother of her husband. Blue Bird also had a responsibility to make useful things for the tribe as well as gifts. Gloku’s rolls were to take care of her grandchildren, her husband and her own children, but one of her most important rolls was to make her daughter-in-law feel included and loved by her entire side of the family. Gloku and Blue Bird were very close in part because of this role and also because they truly loved each other. Gloku loved and respected Blue Bird even before their families joined thorough the marriage of her son Rainbow. Waterlily’s roles are slightly more difficult to pinpoint because tribal roles change as a person ages. When Waterlily was a child her role was to be a child, her brother and cousins watched over her and protected her. As she aged into an older child her role was to take care of her younger siblings and cousins. She was also expected to begin taking an active role in the tribe so she could start to get a better understanding of what it’s like to be a respected member of the tribe as an adult. As Waterlily aged into a young woman her role was to act as a support for her family, primarily her brother. In a Dakota Sioux tribe sisters and brothers are completely devoted to each
At one point in the book Waterlily eats too much pemmican cake, which makes her very ill almost to the point of death.(p.72) While laying sick her step-father, Rainbow, promises to throw her a hunka ceremony, which would make her a “child beloved”, a very prestigious status. Later in the novel Rainbow brings his family on a trip to visit his kola where the family gets an opportunity to see the Dakota Sun Dance, which is one of the most important religious events for the Dakota. This ceremony held men, who had made oaths to their words these men fasted, wept, sang, or subjected themselves to ritualized scarring. While the Sun Dance was going on Waterlily observes a young boy named Lowanla, who made a promise to take out one hundred pieces of skin in return for his father’s good health, Lowanla fasts during the ceremony and one night Waterlily sneaks out of her tipi to deliver a bucket of water to the young boy. This boy was Waterlily’s first love interest. During this ceremony Waterlily and her cousin had the opportunity to take part in the “tree cutting” ceremony, which was a coveted opportunity with the children of the tribe. (p.110) Tisyopaye is the Sioux word for camp circle. A camp circle includes all relatives, including grandparents, parents, sibilings, aunts, uncles, cousins and any other relatives connected through blood, marriage or adoption. Waterlily, Blue