Name: Waterlily
ISBN: 9780803265790

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

Elizabeth Wood

I appreciated this book for the discussion we had as a book club. It was not my typical read but I did learn a few somethings from it.

Natalie Sypeck 

A few days ago I finished reading #Waterlily which was assigned reading for my cultural communications class. I had come across this book a couple times in my search for more books by #indigenousauthors but had passed it over for one reason or another. I’m so glad that my professor required this reading, he even stated that many students over the years have claimed it was their favorite book they had to read during their college career (I think we can all assume they weren’t getting a literature degree). I found myself fully immersed in the lives and the characters and have missed getting to spend time with them now that the story is over. 
While this story is a work of fiction, the author had spent many years studying the Dakota texts from the point of view of an ethnographer. It was fascinating watching how people within this community interacted and their reasons behind such interactions. Though this is a work of fiction, it is still incredibly educational in topics such as cultural communication and kinship rules within this society [the Dakota (Sioux) people].
I gave this book 4.5 stars and I have a feeling that I will visit it again someday and will be able to learn even more one the second read through. I found it refreshing to read about indigenous people living in a time before white men take over and reservations. 
TW: Violence, references to kidnapping and incest, death, self-harm for ritual purposes

Waterlily

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