Neither Wolf nor Dog 25th Anniversary Edition: On Forgotten Roads with an Indian Elder

This is a very important book. In fact, you must read the other two novels in the trilogy. My sister sent me her copies of the other two books. They were autographed! She was even more impacted by these books then I was. In fact she is going the reservation that the Author first visited in MN. Anyway, I can't explain it, but these books touched a chord deep inside me. You get done reading them and you just say, "wow!" It's not some recitation about how we, "white people", have screwed over Native Americans, from day one. There is plenty of that as well. It's one old Indian's story about his life and his people's lives. It's easy to see why the Author kept going back to be with his subject, over and over. I came away with a feeling of shame for what my forebears did the people that were here first. I read this book on the heels of a couple of other books involving Native Americans. "Code Talkers" and the " " Killers of the Flower Moon". The Flower Moon book is coming out as a movie in October. I can't wait to see it. I read that book and I thought to myself, "this can't be real". But it really happened. And Code Talkers of course had been made into a movie as well. Anyway, I digress. Read this book and trilogy as well ad the other two titles I just mentioned.

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.

The insights and perspectives provided by this book completely exceeded my expectations. It is a lovely story about Native American history, values, and experience, Parts left me conflicted: I didn’t want to feel guilty or ashamed, but I did … not in a bad way, but in a way that was open to growth. The book is well written, the author a gifted story teller, and it led to one of the best discussions our book club has had. I read an hard copy and imagine it would also be a great listen if you wanted to go the Audible approach.

Having been an active trader and dealer in American Indian Art since 1985, the idea of a road-trip story of a white writer and a Lakota elder appealed instantly. Unfortunately for me, this turned out to be a very long-winded, yet justified rant by a very angry Indian Schools era victim. The hapless, well-intentioned journalist, the old guy decided, stood in to accept blame for all the evils that the white race has committed in North America. At one key point, he goes into a very biting rant about white people's racism while painting all white people with "a very broad brush" in the author's words. However, the evil he cries out about was and is real. The Lakota people were almost completed destroyed by the US Army and by later compounded Government lies, deceit and decisions made as to how they should live, crushing them with government-enacted poverty. In this way, it is an important history for those who may have never really covered this ground, and what's more, it's told in a particularly painful personal voice. I was greatly relieved to see that the author does convey a bit of Indian humor and irony, which is the first thing I always remember of every American Indian I've gotten to know over time. The chapters where this figures in, shined for me as the most completely honest parts of the book. The author writes an a well-paced conversational style perfect for the subject and setting. He's done an admirable job of recounting a history that most Americans have never considered and for that reason, should be read by those who want to understand the issues involved. We still have a very long way to go, and the hopeful tilt at the end, may indeed be the great mystery at the heart of the story. Knowing why this happened is well beyond our job descriptions, but the book lays out several ways to move forward from this point. A film made from this book is soon to be released. I look forward to seeing it.

Buen precio, buen producto.

Am enjoying the read. Lots of wisdom.

A must read to become enlightened and gain an understanding of how the Native Americans where treated by the invasion of the white people

I knew very little about the native american (indians), or any american history. This book will stay with me . I think the writer has done a very good job and has delivered what he was asked to do, to help people understand. There is funny bits in places. There is also sometimes what feels like a lecture from the elder to nepburn but by the end of the elder story you see a point of view and the importance of the story. I had never heard of the horrors of "standing knee" the book described it so well and I pictured it in my mind, its not a story you can forget. What I really liked in the book is the why nature is appreciated and respected by these people and hearing about how they learn from the animals. I went on to read the who trilogy in a short space of time.There was a smell to the book at first and it is printed on different paper (environmentally friendly), but dont let that put you off, the smell did go out of it.

È un libro molto pesante da leggere... mi spiego: il modo di scrivere dell’autore è leggero, scorrevole ed estremamente piacevole da leggere, ma i temi trattati hanno un peso notevole. Vale davvero la pena di leggerlo.