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    Neither Wolf nor Dog: On Forgotten Roads with an Indian Elder
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    Neither Wolf nor Dog: On Forgotten Roads with an Indian Elder
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    Neither Wolf nor Dog: On Forgotten Roads with an Indian Elder
    Ebook381 pages7 hours

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

    By Kent Nerburn

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    About this ebook

    1996 Minnesota Book Award winner — A Native American book

    The heart of the Native American experience: In this 1996 Minnesota Book Award winner, Kent Nerburn draws the reader deep into the world of an Indian elder known only as Dan. It’s a world of Indian towns, white roadside cafes, and abandoned roads that swirl with the memories of the Ghost Dance and Sitting Bull. Readers meet vivid characters like Jumbo, a 400-pound mechanic, and Annie, an 80-year-old Lakota woman living in a log cabin. Threading through the book is the story of two men struggling to find a common voice. Neither Wolf nor Dog takes readers to the heart of the Native American experience. As the story unfolds, Dan speaks eloquently on the difference between land and property, the power of silence, and the selling of sacred ceremonies. This edition features a new introduction by the author, Kent Nerburn.

    “This is a sobering, humbling, cleansing, loving book, one that every American should read.” — Yoga Journal

    If you enjoyed Empire of the Summer Moon, Heart Berries, or You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me, you’ll love owning and reading Neither Wolf nor Dog by Kent Nerburn.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNew World Library
    Release dateSep 7, 2010
    ISBN9781577318866
    Author

    Kent Nerburn

    Kent Nerburn has been widely praised as one of the few writers who can respectfully bridge the gap between native and nonnative cultures. His book Neither Wolf nor Dog: On Forgotten Roads with an Indian Elder won the 1995 Minnesota Book Award.

    Read more from Kent Nerburn

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    Reviews for Neither Wolf nor Dog

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    • 5/5
      Read it. If you can stand the truth. I barely can.
    • 5/5
      A special book that shares a great story and amazing wisdom
    • 5/5
      I wasn’t sure I would like this book. A good friend who is really into some New Age things recommended it for our book club. I had read Dee Brown’s Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee years ago and found that horribly tragic tale of genocide moving and unforgettable. As I began Nerburn’s book, I became absorbed from the opening pages. This first person account of atrocities and the underlying philosophy of Native Americans, takes its place as an important supplement to Dee Brown’s book. While some of these incidents had a vague place in my consciousness, Nerburn brought them into clear focus with his collection of “talks” by Dan, an elder of the Lakota tribe.Quite a few passages really stuck out. Here they are – without comment – because they clearly speak for themselves.“Our elders were schooled in the ways of silence, and they passed that along to us. Watch, listen, and then act, they told us. This is the way to live” (65)."‘Look out there, Nerburn’ he said. I surveyed the lavender morning sky and the distant rolling foothills. “This is what my people care about. This is our mother, the earth.”"‘It’s a beautiful place,’ I offered.He snubbed out his cigarette. “It’s not a place. That’s white man’s talk. She’s alive. We are standing on her. We’re part of her’” (131).“'Whenever the white people won it was a victory. Whenever we won it was a massacre. What was the difference? There were bodies on the ground and children lost their parents, whether the bodies were Indian or white. But the whites used their language to make their killing good and our killing bad’” (162-162).Dan’s granddaughter weighed in, when she met Nerburn during one of the author’s trips around the reservation with Dan. She said, “They ignored us. We were just women. But we were always the ones to keep the culture alive. That was our job, as women and mothers. It always has been. The men can’t hunt buffalo anymore. But we can still cook and sew and practice the old ways. We can still feed the old people and make their days warm. We can teach the children. Our men may be defeated, but our women’s hearts are still strong” (249).I did find some minor faults with the book. I felt the book went on just a bit too long -- the last few chapters were really over the top. I got the message clear as a mountain stream without them. While Dan often complains about how “Hollywood Indians” sounded, he frequently sounded like a Hollywood Indian to me. But overall, a touching and shameful account of the genocide this country perpetrated against Native Americans. At times, it had a rather Zen-like feel to it, but it was always, honest and from the heart. 4-1/2 stars--Jim, 1/26/11
    • 5/5
      Very insightful, enlightening and powerful reading. If I was an educator in the field of anthropology, sociology, American History or any related fields, I would make this required reading for my students. I am thankful the author and the elder were able to connect for long enough to get this unexpected and important story told. The explanations presented about the perceptual differences regarding property rights and ownership between Indian cultures and white settlers were especially thought-provoking/educational. A definite recommend, at least for every American.