# Ruby Big Elk — Cimarron character guide

> Ruby Big Elk in Cimarron by Edna Ferber.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Ruby, Big Elk, Chief Big Elk

**First appearance:** 0009-vi

## Snapshot

The Osage woman who works in Sabra's kitchen, walks with a slow insolent step, and vanishes into white doeskin when the corn dances call her back to the Reservation.

## Who they are

Ruby Big Elk serves Sabra's household but belongs first to the Osage and their Mescal Ceremony, a claim she asserts without apology on the very afternoon twenty clubwomen are due. Her transformation into beaded white doeskin, and the way Cim watches her go, unsettles Sabra more than the abandoned salad ever could. She is the quiet counterweight to the Cravats' civilizing project, a reminder that the land they are settling was someone else's long before.

## Relationships

### [Sabra Cravat](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cimarron_se/characters/sabra_cravat)

_social_

A young Native American woman who works for Sabra, reflecting the complex racial and class hierarchies of the frontier.

### [Yancey Cravat](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cimarron_se/characters/yancey_cravat)

_social_

A young Native American woman who interacts with Yancey as a figure of authority and occasional kindness.

### [Yancey Cravat](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cimarron_se/characters/yancey_cravat)

_social_

A young Native American woman who interacts with Yancey as a figure of authority and occasional kindness.

### [Sabra Cravat](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cimarron_se/characters/sabra_cravat)

_social_

A young Native American woman who works for Sabra, reflecting the complex racial and class hierarchies of the frontier.

### [Yancey Cravat](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cimarron_se/characters/yancey_cravat)

_social_

A young Native American woman who interacts with Yancey as a figure of authority and occasional kindness.

### [Sabra Cravat](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cimarron_se/characters/sabra_cravat)

_social_

A young Native American woman who works for Sabra, reflecting the complex racial and class hierarchies of the frontier.

## In the story

### [XIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cimarron_se/chapters/xix)

Insists on attending the Mescal Ceremony; wears a white doeskin dress; leaves the house despite Sabra's objections.

### [Chapter XXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cimarron_se/chapters/xxii)

Ruby is the bride, exchanging a tense, sword-like gaze with Sabra and showing scornful confidence.

### [Chapter XXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cimarron_se/chapters/xxii)

Big Elk and his wife formally announce the marriage to Sabra and Yancey, dressed in elaborate ceremonial attire.

### [XXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cimarron_se/chapters/xxiii)

Cim's wife, presented as an Osage Indian in native dress and later a Paris gown. She becomes a social rage but leaves Washington in disgust after her work is done.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cimarron_se/characters/ruby_big_elk
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cimarron_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cimarron_se/characters