Waterlily

=//[|Waterlily]// by [|Ella Cara Deloria]=



Synopsis and response:
[|Waterlily] //is a novel of Indian life – of the [|Dakotas], or [|Sioux]. But apart from dealing with an actual people at a more-or-less identifiable time and place, it has little in common with the conventional historical fiction centered on famous people and major events. For the book was written by [|Ella Deloria], herself a [|Sioux] and an accomplished ethnologist, who sought to record and preserve traditional [|Sioux] ways through this imaginative recreation of life in the camp circle. It is of special value because it is told from a woman’s perspective – one that is much less well known than the warrior’s or the holy man’s. More fully and compellingly than any ethnological report, and with equal authority, it reveals the intricate system of relatedness, obligation, and respect that governed the world of all [|Dakotas] as it takes the protagonist,// [|Waterlily]//, through the everyday and the extraordinary events of a [|Sioux] woman’s experience.

In Speaking of Indians, a more analytical description of [|Sioux] culture published in 1944, when she had completed at least a first draft of// [|Waterlily]//, [|Deloria] states explicitly a goal that applies as well to the novel: “We shall go back to a time prior to white settlement of Western plains, when Native custom and thought were all there was, and we shall examine certain of the most significant elements in the old life.” White Americans appear only peripherally, providing in their first tentative contacts with the [|Western Sioux] a counterpoint to the native values.

[|Deloria] goes on to point out that “the ultimate aim of [|Dakota] life, stripped of accessories, was quite simple: One must obey kinship rules; one must be a good relative. No Dakota who has participated in that life will dispute that. In the last analysis every other consideration was secondary – property, personal ambition, glory, good times, life itself. Without that aim and the constant struggle to attain it, the people would no longer be [|Dakotas] in truth. They would no longer even be human. To be a good [|Dakota], then, was to be humanized, civilized. And to be civilized was to keep the rules imposed by kinship for achieving civility, good manners, and a sense of responsibility toward every individual dealt with. Thus only it was possible to live communally with success; that is to say, with a minimum of friction and a maximum of good will.”// -- publisher’s preface

This book is written about the life of the [|Sioux] woman Water Lily and her mother, Blue Bird. Great emphasis is given to the behavior expected of tribe members and the patterns of cultural life within the tribe: “Once she gives it, an honorable [|Dakota] woman does not break her word to a man.” (p. 12). Reference is given to the ways in which relatives were supposed to interact and the motivations behind those interactions, and tribal ritual is also made mention. A pivotal plot point in the book is referred to in this way: Star Elk, the protagonist’s father, was an odd, jealous man who wanted to take revenge on his wife for a trifling matter. He shocked the people of his tribe by interrupting a victory dance in order to “throw away” his wife. This was a breach of tribal etiquette, since only honored people were permitted to interrupt the dance and he had not accrued that kind of respect. In addition, it was well known throughout the tribe that Blue Bird was undeserving of such treatment:

It was a foolish and uncalled-for act but wholly characteristic. Instead of enhancing the man, as it might if he had cried, “This is a horse for the needy!” what he said only lowered his already low standing. Moreover, Star Elk had insulted a victory dance. “Throwing away a wife” was a custom, to be sure, but this was not the place. If it must be done at all, it should be at some social dance where the mood was properly light and reckless. Even then it was a custom shunned by men of standing, who considered it beneath them to air their emotions publicly. The way to leave an unfaithful wife was to send her away or to walk out of her life without so much as a backward glance. Only vain and weak men gave vent to their temper in public as Star Elk had done. It was also wrong because Blue Bird had not been unfaithful, and this was generally known. Star Elk not only succeeded in losing a good wife and making a fool of himself; he earned such public disfavor that he could not remain in the camp circle. He left immediately, his destination unknown. (p. 16).

This passage alone is a great indication of some of the tribe’s core values: generosity, the importance of etiquette and propriety, pride, and fairness. Examples of this type abound throughout the book, and more than anything else, an emphasis is placed on gender roles and the process of becoming assimilated to be a part of the tribe. This is supported by [|Deloria’s] own words in the publisher’s preface, where she states “the ultimate aim of [|Dakota] life, stripped of accessories, was quite simple: One must obey kinship rules; one must be a good relative. No Dakota who has participated in that life will dispute that. In the last analysis every other consideration was secondary – property, personal ambition, glory, good times, life itself. Without that aim and the constant struggle to attain it, the people would no longer be [|Dakotas] in truth. They would no longer even be human.” This directly states that personhood can only be attained by assimilating individual values to the values of the tribe.

This ideal is reflected in //[|Waterlily,]// and correlates to the Bildungsroman tradition (as defined by Marianne Hirsch and condensed by Suzanne Hader):

1. A Bildungsroman is, most generally, the story of a single individual's growth and development within the context of a defined social order. The growth process, at its roots a quest story, has been described as both "an apprenticeship to life" and a "search for meaningful existence within society." 2. To spur the hero or heroine on to their journey, some form of loss or discontent must jar them at an early stage away from the home or family setting. 3. The process of maturity is long, arduous, and gradual, consisting of repeated clashes between the protagonist's needs and desires and the views and judgments enforced by an unbending social order. 4. Eventually, the spirit and values of the social order become manifest in the protagonist, who is then accommodated into society. (The web site[| http://www.victorianweb.org/genre/hader1.html] gives more information on the Bildungsroman tradition)

The novel ends with an assessment by the protagonist of himself and his new place in that society. As Waterlily, and also her mother, Blue Bird, struggle to find their places within society and conform to the standards expected of them, definition is given to those expectations and a window opened to those who wish to observe those standards. Indeed, this is one of the core virtues of Waterlily as it is an exemplar of [|Sioux] cultural life, as stated by Maria Eugenia Cotera: “most critical interpretations of //[|Waterlily]// focus either on the anthropological context in which it was written or on its "cross-cultural" function as a text that reveals the psychological underpinnings of Dakota culture to a predominantly white audience.” In addition, much has been made of the female perspective of Waterlily. This is unusual since most novels told from the Native American perspective to this point had been male-centered. This alternate perspective adds to the unique value of the book and may also be more appealing to feminist readers. Altogether, //[|Waterlily]// was an absorbing read, and while readability was high, the length and density of the book (already cut nearly in half from [|Deloria’s] original transcript by editors) suit this book more to students in secondary school or higher.

Challenge One: Length and Density
This may be a difficult novel to assign in a high school classroom, as stated above, simply due to length and density. This book would best be assigned in a classroom where this book would be the main focus, or else in a course where readership is rather advanced.
 * Suggestion:** Ways to offset this may include the use of excerpts, in particular if the instructor wishes to illustrate or compare a certain cultural aspect. However, this cut and paste methodology seems to be contrary to the spirit of what most students of Native American literature and culture would recommend. I think it may truly depend on the context of what is being taught and why.

Challenge Two: The Selection of Excerpts
The first challenge and possible solution to utilizing //[|Waterlily]// in the classroom leads directly to the second: Is it possible to excerpt from this work, and if so, how? I feel strongly that a study of Waterlily would best be supplemented with material and information from other sources. The question is, what, and how, should it be supplemented, and is this something that is attainable within the context of a course that is taught in a single semester? Tribal tradition may be looked at differently by different members of the same tribe. It would be unfair and grossly presumptuous to simply present one view. A way to deal with this may be to simply ask around and do some independent research about other books that focus on [|Dakota] life. Some of these books may be found on the list below, although it is hardly comprehensive.
 * Suggestion:** Use sensitivity in selecting excerpts; for instance, the excerpt listed above could be utilized in classroom discussion. Students could be encouraged to speculate about and discuss Dakota values with a speaker.

Challenge Three: The Roles of Men and Women in Dakota Culture
While one of the chief virtues of //[|Waterlily]// is that it is written with a female protagonist and so has a unique perspective, if the purpose of a class utilizing //[|Waterlily]// as a text is to gain perspective in [|Dakota] life then other books may be necessary to supplement this. Women and men had strikingly different roles in [|Dakota] culture and simply viewing it from one perspective will limit understanding of that culture. http://www.drake.edu/artsci/PolSci/ssjrnl/2005/collins.pdf An article discussing the role of women in Sioux culture.
 * Suggestion:** Supplementing //[|Waterlily]// with other texts may be vital to gaining a part of that understanding, and there are resources listed below that may assist with that.

Challenge Four: Understanding Culture in Context
This is simply a general challenge that comes along with the teaching of Native American literature: the problems inherent in taking on the task of educating through books about a culture that is primarily oral and only truly understood within the context of that culture. http://www.sioux.org/ Official site of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe, and a possible venue for finding and inviting a classroom speaker. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3687/is_200001/ai_n8882734/pg_13 An article that focuses on the cultural aspects of [|Deloria’s] Waterlily. http://www.nativeamericans.com/Sioux.htm Information on the Sioux. http://www.snowwowl.com/peoplesioux.html A great site that has a very great many links and quite a lot of information inside.
 * Suggestion:** The only possible way to mitigate this is to do everything possible to get a speaker to come in and talk to and educate students. Again, the importance of this step is paramount, but it also depends on why in particular the text has been chosen. It may be (slightly) less imperative to gain a speaker if the emphasis is on the feminine experience rather than that of the [|Sioux] experience.

Other Teaching Ideas:
This book could be taught as an exemplar of the Bildungsroman tradition, in which case it could be compared and contrasted to other Bildungsromane from other cultures and traditions, especially other Native American traditions in order to achieve a sense of intertribal differences. //[|Waterlily]// could certainly also be taught in a tradition of feminist literature, in which case other books with female protagonists could be explored. In addition, it could be examined and cross compared with factual renditions of [|Dakota] life, and a greater understanding of their meaning could be achieved. http://www.victorianweb.org/genre/hader1.html Gives more information on the Bildungsroman tradition.

Information on [|Ella Cara Deloria:]
http://web3.cas.usf.edu/main/depts/ANT/women/deloria/deloria.htm Biographical information about [|Ella Cara Deloria].

[|http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/deloria.html] This web site gives a brief biography of [|Ella Cara Deloria], and a list of her published work.

http://voices.cla.umn.edu/vg/Bios/entries/deloria_ella_cara.html This site gives more complete criticism of [|Deloria’s] works and some of the background behind it.

http://www.jstor.org/view/0095182x/ap040051/04a00190/0 An overview is given here into the virtues behind the book, and its ability to educate the reader on [|Sioux] tribal customs and behavior patterns is lauded.

A brief listing of Sioux authors:
[| Barbara Means Adams] [| Moses Big Crow] [| Black Elk] [| Ella Cara Deloria] [| Vine Deloria Jr.] [| Carol Lee Sanchez]

by Mandy Browning