Neither Wolf nor Dog: On Forgotten Roads with an Indian Elder

Kent Nerburn has written a powerful book that avoids the traps of a white guy writing about Indians and is true to both sides of the divide. He fulfilled his promise to Dan, the Lakota elder who was the reason for the whole project. It is Dan's book. Mr. Nerburn did his utmost to stay out of the way and tell a powerful and moving story. Being a white guy, Dan's assessment of white people often made me squirm. His anger is never far from the surface, but his intent was to inform, rather than shame. As white readers, we can assume the shame of genocide without his help. But feeling shamed isn't the issue. Catching a glimpse into the emotions of a culture Whites have done their level best to utterly destroy is something that should be taught in schools everywhere. People need to understand. In a nutshell, "Neither Wolf Nor Dog" nails the difference between White and Red: White people care about freedom; Red people care about honor. There is so much to be learned if we open our minds and our hearts. I don't think you can read this book without feeling a seismic shift in your core.

I really debated between four and five stars on this book. While my family ancestry is in part "Native American", it is also French enough to "hide" within the dominant Northern European culture in most of North America. My opinion is that because my family has never felt the sting of prejudice and oppression, I do not and have no right to claim "Indian-ness". This book deals with the still raw wounds inflicted upon upon not some vague "Native Americans" or "Indians of North America" but upon real people. In a very real and immediate way, Nerburn uses the words of Dan to confront a long history of oppression, murder, and genocide perpetuated on those who were here before the European invasion beginning in the 15th Century. I will admit that I put the book down and for awhile thought that I would not finish it. After a few weeks, I went back and finished the last two chapters and am very glad I did, so I suggest that you if you waver, stay the course and finish it. I am now reading the continuation of this story, the Wolf at Twilight.

I was first introduced to Neither Wolf Nor Dog in a college history course about 15 years ago, have read it four times since then, and regularly recommend and gift it to other people. Over the last 10 years, I have continued to seek out and read almost every book written by Kent Nerburn: not one has disappointed. The two books that follow NWND, The Wolf at Twilight, and Girl Who Sang to the Buffalo add depth and extension of stories touched on in NWND. Each time I journeyed through this story with Nerburn, Dan, Grover, and Fatback, I emerged on the other side as a more fully developed human being. No other book I’ve discovered has been able to explore the conflicted relationship between white culture and native culture with such curiosity, integrity, and compassion. Nerburn is willing to literally take the back seat and allow his Indian elders to steer the story over often rugged and trackless terrain. His relationship with Dan, the Lakota elder, and the other native “characters” teaches us all about the necessity of taking a step back, silencing ourselves, and opening our lives and minds to another’s point of view, no matter how uncomfortable that may be. This book is able show the multitudes contained within Native America, dispelling the limited, static, and mythological stereotypes that only serve to bind us to a false narrative. Nerburn’s insightful, vivid, and lyrical prose consistently teaches me something new about the interconnectedness of all things and how to walk in beauty on this earth.

Thinking the book was nonfiction, I looked forward to learning something about how the Sioux view the world. But as I was reading it I started to get a Don Juan/Carlos Castaneda vibe. Sure enough the book turned out to be fiction. The other big clue to me was when Dan, the Sioux elder, praised Abraham Lincoln with no mention of the 38 Santee Sioux that we’re hung in 1862 with Lincoln’s permission. Yes, Lincoln did save many more from being hung, but for Dan, who was so spiritually connected to the Wounded Knee massacre, to totally neglect the tragedy seemed out of character. I found the book tedious with Dan’s constant barking at the author (who used his real name, to make the reader believe it is non fiction) and worse yet, disingenuous.

I have been telling my friends about this book (and the two sequels--The Wolf at Twilight and The Girl Who Sang to the Buffalo). They are really important books for us all to read. Perhaps most of us already know that the early American Government essentially 'stole' the land from the Native American tribes who had been on the land for many many generations, and we have heard at least some of the stories of the bad events that went down. And many of us already know that the Native American ways are much more sensitive to the natural world than most of us are today... But Kent Nerburn's narrative gives a power and perspective to the 'facts' of the story. The story is told by Nerburn, the white 'outsider', and also through the eyes of Dan, the Lakota elder, who comes to trust Nerburn with his deepest observations and Native American perspective. I read the 3 books in quick succession. They are compelling books, and they will stay with me for a long time.

An 80 year old Lakota elder chooses a white man to write a book of teachings of his elders so that the teachings do not disappear. The writer is introduced to the deepest truths of the Indian experience, their profound spirituality and the destruction of their people at the hand of the white invaders. It is a very moving experience to read this book, I mean really read it and let it touch your heart, as he tells how women and children were hunted down and slaughtered by supposedly civilized white people. I just finished reading the book and I can't say more at this time. But if you want to be challenged about what you've been taught about those savage Indians, this is a must-read. I hope you'll want to do so.

Wow! A simple story, told in a simple way that explains so much about not only the issues facing the indigenous people of North America when the Europeans arrived, but importantly it also could be taken as explaining many of the problems that we see in the world today. Example, our delight in the Arab Spring that so far has not turned out as so many assumed it would. From the perspective of this book it came across to me that “us” Europeans only think of things in a way that suit us, and so we lack empathy and understanding of people that live their life differently. It explains in a simple way how some of what we think of as normal, such as choosing our leaders could be seen as very strange to those that do things differently as when you hear it from Dan’s point of view it makes perfect sense. I have a feeling that this might not be the last Kent Nerburn book that I read.

I defy anyone to read this book and not be affected by it in one way or another. As a Brit I never really paid much attention to the history of Native Americans and certainly didn't understand just how far the White man was willing to go to eradicate a culture they did not understand and could not control all those years ago.The term American Indian usually conjures up images from cowboy films of them being savages hell bent on slaughter and theft or other well known modern films that shows them as ignorant savages enjoying the scalping of white men, raping and brutal murderers of white women and children and the White man ever the hero.This book turns the tide on that for everyone who reads it. It is the words, memories, teachings and frustrations of an elder as he entrusts the truth of his culture to a likely descendant of the very people that massacred and attempted to wipe out his culture - the White man!What happened to the indigenous, original people of what is now America is equally as horrific as the murder of the Jews at the hands of Hitlers regime and this is a history that every European should know the truth about, not the history that is written to excuse the treatment toward the Native American (both then and now) but the real sordid, ugly, brutal truth.

This book is a real page turner. I had several too late nights because I couldn't put it away. Great reading, and lots of insights it gave me into the way of the Lakota people and us 'whites'.Towards the end the old guy's accusations became too much for me, felt personal. Such resentment. Of course the resentment is there, but I felt as if it were directed against ME PERSONALLY. At that point I could hardly continue reading.But on the whole a book that I would highly recommend. Extremely well written.

Firstly, on a personal level where today do I begin with trying to find common cause in conflicted or multiple socially asymmetric situations, in my day to day. This is a fascinating encounter where a writer meets an elder tribesman. There are no solutions although some of the insights on how we see each other and what we see first and how our first impressions and reactions are conditioned are lessons we could all learn from to some degree.Secondly this is superbly written, Kent Nerburn is a gifted writer, he brings colour to moments and situations directly and metaphorically.Don't be tempted to put it down or to leave this book unfinished.

This is a sort of road-book, think 'On The Road' with Native American characters. Very well written, the style is that of a good novel and keeps the reader engaged. The characters are huge, and Nerburn presents them warts and all. This is no romanticised "Dancing with Wolves" view of life for Native Americans, yet the reader is drawn to the flawed characters who through story telling and encounters with others present a picture of modern life. The insight into this world is starkly drawn. It is not a campaigning book, but can have you screaming about injustice in modern America. All this in a highly readable format.