Waterlily is a bit of a slow read at times, but it is an important and interesting story, since it documents the traditional lifestyles, customs, and social/kinship bonds of the Dakota people, via the vehicle of the tale of Waterlily. It also details some of the effects of contact, since Waterlily grows up in a community that has no contact with white settlers but lives for a time in a community that does.

This is a story I wish everyone on Turtle Island could read to counteract the false ideas spread by Hollywood and history books.