Grandmother Earth, or Unci, is one of many female figures who are important in Lakota religion and lore. But Mary notes that, in the modern day, Native American women are not treated with the same respect that Native American men have for one another or for religious female figures such as Grandmother Earth.
Get the entire Lakota Woman LitChart as a printable PDF.
Grandmother Earth Character Timeline in Lakota Woman
The timeline below shows where the character Grandmother Earth appears in Lakota Woman. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2: Invisible Fathers
Mary’s grandmother was a woman named Louise Flood. When Louise was young, each household in the tribe...
(full context)
After her husband died, Mary’s grandmother was left with her four children, two of whom died from tuberculosis. She never received...
(full context)
Chapter 3: Civilize Them with a Stick
Mary’s experience at the boarding school was similar to her grandmother ’s: the nuns forced a strict routine on the children, punished them severely for any...
(full context)
Chapter 5: Aimlessness
In Lakota lore, there are important female figures and heroines, like Grandmother Earth and White Buffalo Woman, the woman who brought the Lakota the sacred pipe. Menstruating women...
(full context)
