Ella Cara Deloria

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.

Waterlily

Presents a 1944 study of Dakota life that describes the intricate kinship system, and shows how it was affected by confinement to reservations, and how it impeded those Indians who chose to assimilate

Speaking of Indians

Franz Boas

Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences

Dakota Grammar

Being an All-day Celebration, Consisting of Ceremonials, Games, Dances and Songs, in Honor of Wohpe, One of the Four Superior Gods of the Dakota Pagan Religion ; Goddess of Nature and Patroness of Games, of Adornment and of Little Children ...

The Wohpe Festival

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

Julian Rice

"The five narratives in this book, the third in Julian Rice's 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. Following the noted storyteller Makula (Breast or Left Heron), Deloria improvises upon the poetic conventions of oral performance, from simple asides to traditional set speeches of the Buffalo Woman ceremony. Blending careful observation with creative skill, these stories offer new and often surprising perspectives on Lakota culture. They will entertain and instruct any reader with an interest in Native American societies of the past and present."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Ella Deloria's The Buffalo People

"While Ella Deloria is known as a linguist and ethnologist and as author of the novel Waterlily, many readers may not know that she also wrote extensively in several Dakota dialects. Trained under Franz Boas, Deloria collected stories, autobiographies, and extensive descriptions of all aspects of Lakota life in the 1920s and 1930s, when the memories of her informants extended well back into camp circle days. She wrote the interviews from memory--first in Lakota, then in English, creating a literary extension of the oral tradition. In this first extended critical study of Deloria's work, Rice claims her as a major American writer." "In discussing Deloria's Dakota Texts, Rice selects the theme of sexuality because it presents social and spiritual problems that are resolved in the narratives. In addition, a comparison of such issues in Lakota narratives and in familiar Shakespeare plays highlights Lakota values and serves to contextualize Deloria's work. English translations of the thirteen stories under discussion are provided in an appendix for ease of reference." "Readers familiar with Deloria's writing will welcome this critical study, and new readers will gain an increased understanding of Lakota culture. It will be of value to scholars of literature, religion, and Native American culture."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Ella Cara Deloria

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