When Blue Bird and her grandmother leave their family’s camp to gather beans for the long, threatening winter, they inadvertently avoid the horrible fate that befalls the rest of the family. Luckily, the two women are adopted by a nearby Dakota community and are eventually integrated into their kinship circles. Ella Cara Deloria’s tale follows Blue Bird and her daughter, Waterlily, through the intricate kinship practices that created unity among her people. Waterlily, published after Deloria’s death and generally viewed as the masterpiece of her career, offers a captivating glimpse into the daily life of the nineteenth-century Sioux. This new Bison Books edition features an introduction by Susan Gardner and an index. Purchase the audio edition.

Waterlily

Deloria, Ella Cara

Reference

Bison Books

Traces the life of Waterlily, a Sioux woman, from her birth to the birth of her own child, and shares her view of tribal culture

Teen & Young Adult

Univ of Nebraska Pr

This novel of the Dakota Sioux written by Sioux ethnologist Deloria takes protagonist Waterlily through the everyday and the extraordinary events of a Sioux woman's life.

Literature & Fiction

United States

University Of Nebraska Press

Ella Deloria (1889–1971), one of the first Native students of linguistics and ethnography in the United States, grew up on the Standing Rock Reservation on the northern Great Plains and was trained by Franz Boas at Columbia University. Dakota Texts presents a rich array of Sioux mythology and folklore in its original language and in translation. Originally published in 1932 by the American Ethnological Society, this work is a landmark contribution to the study of the Sioux tribes.

Dakota Texts

The five narratives in this book, the third volume in Julian Rice's ongoing examination of the work of Ella Deloria, demonstrate Deloria's artistry in portraying the central values of Lakota (Sioux) culture. The introductory stories illustrate courage in three extraordinary women and Deloria's ability to subordinate her voice to that of different narrators. Another tale, "The Prairie Dogs," explains how the warriors' and chiefs' societies, the strongest forces for social cohesion, came into being.  The longest story, "The Buffalo People," concerns the origin of tribal identity based on such ideal qualities as the strength and generosity of the buffalo and the resiliency and grace of the corn. In her retelling of the story Deloria improvises upon the poetic conventions of oral performance. These stories offer surprising perspectives on Lakota culture to readers with an interest in Native American societies of the past and present.

Ella Deloria's the Buffalo People (English and Dakota Edition)

Politics & Social Sciences

RICE, Julian

Social Sciences

Univ of New Mexico Pr

The five narratives in this book, the third volume in Julian Rice's ongoing examination of the work of Ella Deloria, demonstrate Deloria's artistry in portraying the central values of Lakota (Sioux) culture. The introductory stories illustrate courage in three extraordinary women and Deloria's ability to subordinate her voice to that of different narrators. Another tale, "The Prairie Dogs," explains how the warriors' and chiefs' societies, the strongest forces for social cohesion, came into being. 
The longest story, "The Buffalo People," concerns the origin of tribal identity based on such ideal qualities as the strength and generosity of the buffalo and the resiliency and grace of the corn. In her retelling of the story Deloria improvises upon the poetic conventions of oral performance. These stories offer surprising perspectives on Lakota culture to readers with an interest in Native American societies of the past and present.

Book by Deloria, Ella Cara, Picotte, Agnes, Pavich, Paul N.

Dakota Texts (English and Dakota Edition)

Picotte, Agnes

Pavich, Paul N.

Univ South Dakota Pr

Ella Deloria could speak intimately about Indian ways because she belonged to a Yankton Sioux family. A distinguished scholar who studied with Franz Boas at Columbia University, she had the gift of language and the understanding necessary to bridge races. Originally published in 1944, this book is an important source of information about Dakota culture and a classic in its elegant clarity of insight. Beginning with a general discussion of American Indian origins, language families, and culture areas, Deloria then focuses on her own people, the Dakotas, and the intricate kinship system that governed all aspects of their life. She writes, “Exacting and unrelenting obedience to kinship demands made the Dakotas a most kind, unselfish people, always acutely aware of those about them and innately courteous.”Deloria goes on to show the painful transition to reservations and how the holdover of the kinship system worked against Indians trying to follow white notions of progress and success. Her ideas about what both races must do to participate fully in American life are as cogent now as when they were first written.

Speaking of Indians

Dakota Grammar: Memoirs Of The National Academy Of Sciences V23

Format Hardcover Subject Foreign Language Study

Boas, Franz

Literary

Literary Licensing, LLC

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Deloria, Ella Cara. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Deloria, Ella Cara

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Deloria, Ella Cara. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Waterlily

Waterlily

Waterlily

Dakota Texts

Ella Deloria's the Buffalo People (English and Dakota Edition)

Ella Deloria's the Buffalo People (English and Dakota Edition)

Dakota Texts (English and Dakota Edition)

Speaking of Indians

Dakota Grammar: Memoirs Of The National Academy Of Sciences V23

Dakota Grammar: Memoirs Of The National Academy Of Sciences V23