Importance of Kinship in Waterlily

In any given native society, kinship was the main theme that a tribe aimed to possess. It

was important to maintain family morals and values to be considered a loyal Dakota member.

The Dakota tribe believed in strict gender roles and keeping male and female expectations

separate. In the novel Waterlily, the main character, Waterlily shared the rules of kinship to every

Dakota she came into contact with. She maintained a balance between the importance of a family

relationship and completing her roles as a female to remain a faithful Dakota.

In given the opportunity, I would present the question to Waterlily, "Why marry a man,

knowing little about him, to sacrifice your happiness and be purchased like you're an object?"

Through the novel I have obtained a woman acquires honor through honoring her relatives.

Waterlily sacrificed her dignity as a woman because of the exchange Sacred Horse offered her

family if she were to marry him. Kinship was also expressed in other forms of learning

throughout the class. Through lecture I learned when an epidemic occurred in a society, family

members would sit with the ill until they were well. Even though they did this to benefit the sick,

the healthy kin would also become ill due to the rapid rate of spreading. This idea was expressed

in the film through the Wampanoag village when Massasoit became ill. He was placed in a sweat

hut and looked after by tribe members. Males and females of a family completed their roles to

establish a tight, healthy pact to work as one.

"The ultimate aim of Dakota life was quite simple; one must obey kinship rules; one must

be a good relative. No Dakota who has participated in that life will despute that...Without that

aim and constant struggle to obtain it, the people would no longer be Dakotas in truth" (Deloria,

Preface). Water lily maintained these expectations and remained a true Dakota through her loyal

actions toward her family. The theme of kinship should be elaborated on because many members

of families today disrespect each other. In society today, the tight bond Native Americans shared

are not