Waterlily was written by Deloria in the early 1940s but was not published until 1988, eighteen years after her death. The original novel was significantly longer than its published counterpart, but under the advice of Ruth Benedict, a colleague of Franz Boas, the novel was condensed to half of its size in order to focus more closely on the plot. The novel reflects Deloria's ethnographic research and her desire to chronicle Dakota traditions and cultural values. Waterlily describes Dakota life before it was altered by American western expansion.
The novel follows two generations of Sioux women, Blue Bird and Waterlily; a mother-daughter pair who both learn through life experiences the meaning and importance of kinship. Waterlily takes place in the Great Plains of the Midwest and recounts the nomadic nature of the Sioux camp circle. The Sioux term for camp circle, tiyóšpaye, is an essential throughout the novel as a driving force for bonding, conflict, relationships, and change. Although Waterlily is told from a third-person omniscient point of view, it is unique in that it focuses mostly on women's roles and experiences in Dakota society.
In 1942, Deloria began her work on Waterlily. Ruth Benedict, her colleague, suggested that she concentrate her work on the structure of the Sioux culture. Deloria worked closely with Benedict and Boas, who encouraged Deloria to compile her knowledge of the native culture using literature. It took twenty years of studying the Sioux's historical background for her to produce the novel. Deloria was able to translate important ceremonial rituals. As an ethnographer, her ability to translate such important events in the Sioux culture has made her novel a notable and well-recognized piece of literature in the study of native kinship. Her translations allowed Sioux traditions to be preserved as accurately as possible for not only later generations, but for individuals who were not familiar with Sioux culture. Deloria interviewed other Sioux individuals in an attempt to make her novel as realistic and factual as possible. Deloria's formal occupation throughout her professional life was not as an anthropologist; rather, her work was intended to help her readers comprehend the way of life for the Sioux through a woman's point of view. Her ultimate intention was to present the Sioux's cultural practices through historical writing. The novel conveys kinship in an untraditional feminist manner, portraying the particularities of Sioux life with particular attention to women's role in society. The novel is written in a manner that exposes the realities of the Sioux, most notably the relevancy of kinship. As a Sioux woman, she includes the particular and separate traditions of men and women. In Waterlily, Deloria exposes unique and controversial Sioux traditions, among them, the Sun Dance ritual and bridal purchasing. Deloria uses ethnography, anthropology, and historiography to wholly encompass all aspects of Sioux culture in a way that would inform and entertain.
