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Waterlily: A Different Perspective
When one is prompted to elaborate on their knowledge of Native American culture and daily practices, the majority of those questioned would put forth answers that would consist of tribal warfare, legends of lone warriors, fables of pious medicine men, and that of gruesome rituals. While all these things may be true, or at least based on truth, all of them are undeniably rooted in the male aspects and viewpoint of Native American culture, not that of the feminine viewpoint. In the book Waterlily, the author Ella Cara Deloria effectively uses the feminist viewpoint to show us a different facet of Dakota culture.
A common habit of authors whose books are written through the male perspective is to use the character as a center for the events of the book to revolve around, and in that way, show the reader how the character develops. However, Deloria takes a unique approach with the feminine viewpoint and uses her character as an anchor through which we can see the day to day aspects of Dakota culture, not as it revolves around Blue Bird or Waterlily as separate persons, but how the culture itself moulds those that are part of it. The fact that one is witnessing these events through the eyes of a bystander instead of one who is constantly in the thick of things forces us to look at the larger picture, and does not allow us to focus on any one aspect in particular. Applying the difference in the viewpoints, this discovery then further allows one to derive that in Dakota culture, women are by far the more subversive of the two genders. While they are not frowned upon or mistreated, the women are the mules of the society while the men command respect, power, prestige, and the ability to make decisions that effect others than themselves. Had Deloria not used her specific approach, one would not have been able to glean this gender specific bias from Native American culture.
One of the most widely noted general conceptions that exists about Native American culture is their overwhelming sense of community and generosity. It is common knowledge that in Native American culture, the act of giving away worldly possessions to those in greater need of it than himself is an act that is worthy of praise and respect, therefore elevating his social and spiritual status in his particular tribe. Deloria takes this concept and implements it in Waterlily when Blue Bird and the remainder of her family flee and meet with a group of Teton Indians who take them in following the massacre of their family men.
“The response was quick. Someone gave the newcomers a tipi to live in, while public-spirited collectors carried around the circle a great bull hide into which contributions were placed. Women came running out of their tipis to add their gifts, such items as clothing and food.” (11).
The above quote cites a specific example in the text where one’s [next page]