34 pages • 1 hour read
Ella Cara DeloriaWaterlily
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1988A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 5-8Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 5 Summary
The camp circle moves to Box Butte, where they will remain before going into winter quarters. Blue Bird and Rainbow go out on their “marriage trip” (34)to get enough meat and supplies for them and their relatives. They bond on this tripe and get to know each other better.
Waterlily spends time in Little Chief’s tipi. He teaches her to walk and helps her to talk. Gloku teaches Waterlily and Little Chief lessons. When Waterlily throws dirt in Little Chief’s face, Gloku sternly reprimands her, teaching her that brothers and sisters must be kind to each other. Sometimes Gloku chastises Little Chief to set an example for Waterlily even when he is not to blame. Rainbow’s whole family loves Waterlily, and “[t]he child was humored all around” (36).
Gloku takes Little Chief and Waterlily up the Box Butte hill. On top, there is a shrine, or “pile of prayers” (37). It consists of stones people left when saying prayers. Gloku puts ceremonial red paint on the children’s hands and gives them stones. They say prayers and place the stones in a pile along with the others.
Chapter 6 Summary
White Ghost moves to winter quarters in a valley that is “protected and cozy” (41). The families break up into small communities in the bends of the creek, and another camp circle joins. White Ghost is happy to have the company of another camp circle.
Blue Bird makes a “comfortable and ornamental” (42)tipi, and she lives there with Rainbow, Little Chief, and Waterlily. Little Chief gets into the habit of sneaking his dog inside. Gloku has several dogs that help her gather wood.
Gloku dreams of a medicine man who reveals, through symbols, that she will be in danger in four nights. This makes Gloku very anxious, and she is particularly careful over the next four days. On the fourth day after the dream, Gloku goes to gather berries with a friend, and the women see men with tomahawks. Gloku runs and throws sand behind her to be “invisible” (47)and escapes, but the men beat and scalp her friend.
During winter, males play games outside while women play indoors. They gather in the evening to talk and tell stories. Woyaka, “a raconteur of exceptional skill”(49), tells the winter count, which is a dramatic calendar of the previous years. Children get excited to hear his tales and bring him gifts. Woyaka tells tales from many years, repeating myths regarding a “buffalo dreamer man” (54)who is visited by the spirit of a buffalo.
Chapter 7 Summary
Spring arrives, and Blue Bird is expecting a baby in the summer. Blue Bird’s family treats her well, giving her gifts and helping her keep house. Blue Bird, however, tries to remain independent and does not accept all the help given her. Gloku takes charge of Waterlily and enlists another granddaughter, Leaping Fawn, to help. Little Chief starts spending most of his time with other boys as is the custom for males growing older.
Bear Heart begins training boys to become “brave and worthy men” (63). He commands Little Chief and others to sit out in the cold one early morning then tells them to run down to the creek and jump into the freezing water. Bear Heart must push Little Chief in since he is afraid. Black Eagle gives Little Chief his first pony, which he rides continuously.
Blue Bird’s baby is born, and his grandfather names him, “Ohiya, the Victor”(66). Waterlily becomes devoted to her new brother. One day, a snake gets into Ohiya’s crib, and the snake dreamer gets it out by communicating with it psychically.
Chapter 8 Summary
Waterlily grows older, and when she is 7, she “has her senses” (71)and can remember her experiences and let them guide her. One afternoon, Gloku leaves her alone with her husband, during which time Waterlily eats a large amount of the rich pemmican cake. She grows ill, and the family is concerned about her. Rainbow promises that he will perform the hunka ceremony for her if she survives, which will “elevate [her] to a high station in the tribe” (73).
Waterlily survives, and it takes two years to prepare for the ceremony. In the interim, Blue Bird gives birth to a baby called Mysterious Hand, who is nicknamed Smiling One. Her sister-in-law, Dream Woman, makes special garments and accessories for Waterlily, including a gown with elk teeth.
On the day of the ceremony, Waterlily dresses in the ritual garments and is carried to the ceremonial tipi with other hunka candidates. They wear red paint, which signifies their new special station within the community. The ceremony master sings a song and has the children drink water and eat food during the ritual. Afterwards, the children return to feast at their respective tipis. One day, Waterlily’s cousin kills a buffalo, and the whole family goes to it in order to cut it up and bring it back in pieces.
Chapters 5-8 Analysis
These chapters establish the rules of Dakota kinship, many of which center on the deep closeness and commitment among family members. Children are prized highly in this community, and “it was the custom to put children first in all things” (33).Grandparents are especially close to grandchildren. Gloku and her husband are devoted to Little Chief and their adopted grandchild, Waterlily: “Both grandparents were patience and gentleness itself” (35). Unlike in Blue Bird’s adopted camp circle, her in-laws welcome her and her child with open arms.
There is also a special closeness between brothers and sisters. The author explains that “brothers and sisters must always place one another above all else” (59). In this way, Blue Bird must be careful of Rainbow’s sisters in order not to offend them. She must get on their good sides because they are so close to Rainbow. On the other hand, Blue Bird can rely on Gloku more easily, because kinship relations demand that mothers-in-law look out for their daughters-in-law.
The reader also learns about the theme of the Dakotas’ deep ties to nature and the spirit world. The individuals respect animals greatly. For example, Gloku puts ceremonial vermilion paint on her dog Burnt Thigh before they go hunting together, saying: “Now we are relatives and won’t be disloyal to each other” (44). She gives the animal deep respect as that of an equal rather than as an inferior. Gloku is also tied to the spirit world. She dreams of her own death and sees its manifestation in her waking life. When she is able to escape death as a result of preparation from the dream, she concludes that the spirit world is looking out for her.
The Dakotas also place a deep important on ritual objects, which become a motif throughout the novel. Gloku takes the children to Box Butte, a shrine on top of a hill where people “leave their prayers” (39)in the form of stones. Vermillion paint is also an important object used during ceremonies and ritual, as with Waterlily during the hunka ceremony. These objects are markers of deep spiritual significance.
