Waterlily Ceremonies

Ceremonies also seem to play a large part in the Dakota peoples lives. Waterlily has a ceremony dedicated to her by Rainbow which helps elevate her standing in the tribe and Rainbow gets acknowledged as well. Again, social standing in the book is a huge part of this book and factors into the thoughts of everyone in the tribe. The Buffalo Ceremony was a huge event for the both of them in regards to their community.

My wife is really into social standing and following family practices and I am not. It's hard for me to understand why social standing and family is such a big role in peoples lives because I don't place much thought on what other people think or say about me and would rather do things myself. Natasha, my wife, does worry about those things and likes big social circles and worries about what other people say or think about her. This book, Waterlily, is a little hard for me to understand at the moment.

Water Lily

I think it's interesting how the structure of the family is so different than what I'm used to. In the book family members are called by their title like Uncle, Aunt, Brother, and Sister, where I call my siblings and family by name with the exception of Mom, Dad, and grandparents. So far the book keeps going back to the structure of their family and everyone's different role in the family circle. Family plays a huge part in the social circle and that was evidenced by when Blue Bird and her grandmother got separated from their tribe and were welcomed by another tribe where they were welcomed but didn't exactly fit in. When they eventually made it back to their tribe the atmosphere of the book changed. Blue Bird was by herself for the birth of her firest born and she was surrounded by family with the birth of her second. Dakota society ,especially in this book, rely heavily on family and the support that is given.