Exquisite evocation in novelistic form of the life of a female Dakota Sioux in the midnineteenth century before whites settled the plainsAn unselfconscious and never precious or quaint pairing of scholarship and fictionKirkusWhen Blue Bird and her grandmother leave their familys camp to gather beans for the long threatening winter they inadvertently avoid the horrible fate that befalls the rest of the family Luckily the two women are adopted by a nearby Dakota community and are eventually integrated into their kinship circles Ella Cara Delorias tale follows Blue Bird and her daughter Waterlily through the intricate kinship practices that created unity among her people nbspWaterlily published after Delorias death and generally viewed as the masterpiece of her career offers a captivating glimpse into the daily life of the nineteenthcentury SiouxThis new Bison Books edition features an introduction by Susan Gardner and an indexnbsp