In the novel Waterlily the researcher/historian Ella Cara Deloria shows that women in Dakota society occupied subordinate positions to their male counterparts. The gender inequalities come early in the book as Blue Bird and her grandmother are members of low station in their tribe “without any male relatives to give them backing” (pg 11). They do not take part in the activities and gift-giving ceremonies that mark a camp circles culture. They are looked upon as an act of the tribes charity and relegated to the background. In contrast Blue Bird’s future husband Rainbow distraught over the loss of his first wife roams the plains encountering many camp circles where he is treated as an honorable guest and even is able to enter into Kola, a friendship of high honor and responsibility with a member of another camp circle. Blue Bird and her grandmother are only able to gain social standing by entering through marriage into a tiyospaye, literally group of tipis. This was the social structure upon which Dakota camps were built. A tiyospaye was a group of related families (usually through the important sibling bond) who practiced cooperative living. The greater production of the large group allowed individuals to specialize such as Dream Woman’s craft and quillwork, Black Eagle as a warrior, and Rainbow as a hunter, which would reflect well on the tiyospaye and increase its prestige. In a tiyospaye men, specifically brothers were all important as the brother would protect and hunt for his sisters and their children and in return they would help raise his children, gather wood, construct clothing and crafts, and honor