Blue Bird and her grandmother find their camp destroyed by enemies; Blue Bird's brothers lie dead.

Blue Bird gives birth to Waterlily alone by a river while her camp circle travels to a new site.

Star Elk publicly divorces Blue Bird during a victory dance, announcing she is free for any man to take.

Blue Bird prays at a rock altar for the critically ill Waterlily, and Waterlily recovers.

Blue Bird and her grandmother are welcomed back into their original camp circle, White Ghost.

Blue Bird's grandmother, Killed-by-Tree, is struck dead by a falling branch during a windstorm.

Rainbow proposes marriage to Blue Bird following Killed-by-Tree's funeral ceremony.

Blue Bird gives birth to a son named Ohiya during her happy marriage to Rainbow.

Waterlily falls dangerously ill after overeating pemmican cake; Rainbow vows to perform a hunka ceremony if she survives.

Waterlily's hunka ceremony is performed, elevating her to a place of honor within the tribe.

Sacred Horse's mothers deliver two horses bearing gifts to propose marriage to Waterlily on his behalf.

Waterlily accepts Sacred Horse's marriage proposal and says goodbye to her family at White Ghost.

Sacred Horse contracts smallpox and dies during the night; his body is hoisted into a tree.

A war party attacks the tipi while Waterlily is at the river, killing nearly everyone inside.

Waterlily returns to White Ghost and marries Lowanla, finding contentment in her new life.

The novel begins with Blue Bird losing her family to enemy raiders and being cut off from her home camp circle. After a troubled first marriage and the birth of Waterlily, Blue Bird returns to White Ghost and builds a new life with Rainbow. Waterlily grows up cherished by her stepfamily and earns high tribal honor through the hunka ceremony. As a young woman, she is bought in marriage by Sacred Horse and must leave everyone she knows behind. Tragedy strikes when smallpox kills Sacred Horse and a war party massacres nearly all of her remaining in-laws. Waterlily survives and ultimately returns to White Ghost, where she finds a new beginning with Lowanla.

The headline events of Blue Bird and Waterlily's lives.

Blue Bird elopes with Star Elk despite her grandmother's strong disapproval of his reputation.

Blue Bird and Rainbow go on a marriage trip together to gather meat and supplies for their relatives.

Gloku takes Little Chief and Waterlily to the Box Butte hilltop shrine to pray and leave painted stones.

Gloku dreams of imminent danger and narrowly escapes an ambush while her companion is beaten and scalped.

Bear Heart pushes a reluctant Little Chief into a freezing creek as part of warrior endurance training.

Black Eagle gives Little Chief his first pony as the boy begins growing into a young warrior.

A snake creeps into Ohiya's crib, and a snake dreamer psychically communicates with it to remove it.

Dream Woman spends two years crafting Waterlily a ceremonial gown covered in elk teeth for the hunka ceremony.

Rainbow is formally invited by a herald to join the Kit Fox society, an elite military order.

The family visits the near-death Palani and stays to witness the annual Sun Dance celebration.

Waterlily and her cousin Prairie Flower join the ritual party that cuts down the sacred Sun Dance pole.

Leaping Fawn is accused of not being a virgin; a Virgin's Fire ceremony publicly clears her name.

A woman in Sacred Horse's camp circle begins calling Waterlily 'daughter,' becoming her social mother.

Waterlily's niece and nephew both die of smallpox as the illness spreads through the family's shared tipi.

Waterlily gives birth to her son Mitawa after returning to White Ghost.

Behind the main storyline, a rich web of secondary events defines the texture of Dakota life in White Ghost. Blue Bird's impulsive elopement with Star Elk sets her troubled first marriage in motion, while her later union with Rainbow unfolds through practical acts like the marriage trip. The community's children are shaped by grandmothers like Gloku, who takes them to sacred shrines and teaches kinship values, and by warriors like Bear Heart, who puts boys through harsh physical tests. Elaborate preparations such as Dream Woman's elk-tooth gown mark Waterlily's coming-of-age rituals, while Rainbow's invitation to the Kit Fox society signals his standing as a tribal leader. As Waterlily enters Sacred Horse's camp circle, she slowly builds connections through a social mother, but smallpox begins killing her new family around her. The pool closes with Waterlily's return to White Ghost and the birth of her son Mitawa.

The secondary moments that shaped the world of White Ghost.

Blue Bird and her grandmother are adopted by a new camp circle after fleeing the destruction of their camp.

Blue Bird receives word from White Ghost and resolves to travel back to her original camp circle.

Blue Bird signals her agreement to marry Rainbow by accepting his invitation to go hunting with him.

Woyaka performs the winter count, recounting a dramatic calendar of past years to the gathered community.

Blue Bird gives birth to Smiling One, completing the family she has built with Rainbow.

Rainbow throws a bone at a concealed Crow scout, kills him, and transfers the honor of the deed to Little Chief.

An enemy party infiltrates the camp circle, scalps three children, and steals supplies, prompting a war response.

Little Chief earns flutterers after proving himself in battle, then kills his first buffalo and narrates the feat to the community.

Lowanla pledges the most extravagant Sun Dance vow — 100 pieces of flesh — as Waterlily first takes notice of him.

Waterlily sneaks water to Lowanla inside the Sun Dance lodge during his fast, then runs before he sees her.

Blue Bird warns Waterlily about a disgraced girl; Waterlily is so shamed she resolves to remain a perpetual virgin.

Gloku dies and her family creates a hair bundle to keep her ghost present, appointing Leaping Fawn as its custodian.

Black Eagle's two horses are killed by spiteful tribesmen, creating the dilemma that drives Waterlily to accept Sacred Horse's proposal.

A cousin discovers Echo's husband's corpse, ending all hope for his return and prompting the survivors to leave.

Lowanla asks Waterlily if she was the girl who brought him water at the Sun Dance; she denies it.

This pool traces the pivotal turning points that quietly redirect the lives of Blue Bird and Waterlily. From Blue Bird's resolve to return to White Ghost to her subtle acceptance of Rainbow's proposal, each choice carries the full weight of kinship obligation. Waterlily's hidden infatuation with Lowanla — first noticed at the Sun Dance, then served water in secret — plants the seed of the novel's resolution long before they ever meet properly. The deaths of Gloku and the crisis of Black Eagle's horses force Waterlily into a marriage she accepts out of duty rather than desire. Tragedy in Sacred Horse's camp circle strips Waterlily of her new world and drives her back home. The novel closes in quiet irony as Lowanla unknowingly asks Waterlily about the girl who once brought him water, and she denies it.