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

Nerburn receives an unexpected call: "My grandpa wants to talk to you." It's unclear if that's to criticize Nerburn's earlier books on the Red Lake Ojibwe or to discuss something else, and no further detail is forthcoming. Nerburn reluctantly agrees to meet. So begins an uncertain and at times frustrating relationship between Nerburn and Dan, an Oglala Lakota wanting a book ghostwritten for him.

Dan isn't writing his life story or even his memories. He's not dictating sacred teachings. He wants written down what he's got in his head. "I watch people. White people and Indian people. I see things. I want you to help me write it down right." [17]

Neither Wolf Nor Dog is partly the book Dan requests but mostly it's an account of writing that show more book, with the result that much of what Dan has in mind doesn't make it into the text. Rather than a postmodern narrative trick, though, Nerburn's sincere grappling with Dan's request, figuring out how to honour it while avoiding the trap of romanticizing Dan as a holy man or noble red man, becomes the best means for fulfilling his promise. The resulting irony not so much literary -- deliberately crafted -- as one arrived at unintentionally, unforeseen. (Dan's burned shoebox of notes and jottings elegantly confirms this.)

Nerburn's achievement is significant, remarkable enough that almost unnoticed is the fact that one book is lost in order to better pursue another. Some of the one is here, necessarily, in order to tell of its abandonment. But it is that abandonment which is told here, a story of how Dan came to ideas, and then how Dan could share those ideas with a white man, and how a white man could understand those ideas. The ideas themselves (that first book!) become less important than their transmission, from one man to another, across cultures. So not a book on Oglala culture, nor an Oglala critique of U.S. mainstream culture, but a book on how the cultures interact.

I found the tone at times exasperating, its solemnity or gravitas too self-conscious and earnest. Nerburn makes gaffes almost inconceivable for someone who spent so much time among Ojibwe and other Native Americans. And yet, I must acknowledge for the book to work, Nerburn had to act, speak, think like a white man, even while wrestling with our sins. Perhaps, after all, he dutifully described the sharp elbows, the shame and emotion of cultures awkwardly bumping and crowding, deliberately included these embarassments because it's inevitable in genuine exchange. A model for our times.

//

Reference point: Nerburn's account appears to illustrate a case study of nonviolent communication, though Nerburn doesn't specifically cite Marshall Rosenberg (even assuming he's aware of him). The book also avoids performative self-contradiction. show less

***YOU (yes, you!) SHOULD READ THIS BOOK!***

"Dan*," a Native American elder, had his granddaughter contact Kent Nerburn, a writer who had worked with a group of Native students to preserve their grandparents' stories. Dan had been trying to write his story (including being taken away from his family and forced to attend an Indian school, an unsuccessful marriage to a white woman, and the death of his young-adult son) and his truth, but he needed help. He chose "Nerburn" (which is what Dan and his friend "Grover" call the author throughout the book) to make his story sound better, but this book ended up being the story of writing the book. Initially, Nerburn interviewed Dan at his home, often with Grover present, but the bulk of the book show more is about the road trip the three men took (basically against Nerburn's will), which helped Dan to illustrate his points.

On protecting native culture:
"Now don't get me wrong on this. But you've got to understand that we are still at war. It's not like we are fighting against America or the American people, but we are still defending who we are. It's war to us, because if we don't fight for who we are we will be destroyed. We'll be destroyed by false ideas and phony Indians and all the good intentions of people who think they are helping us by making us act like white people." (This is followed by an interesting/amusing -- because it's so true -- tangent about how so many white people claim to have a Cherokee grandmother and the repercussions of that story.)

On preserving native history:
"Then later, when you tried to divide our land up and give us little pieces, you tried to make us have last names and marriage certificates like white people. You wrote it all down. Some of our people thought it was so stupid they would give you different names every time they talked to you. So you got everything confused and wrong. By the end, everything was wrong and a lie. But it was all written down, so you said it was true and you taught it to your children like it was true. That's what your white history did for us."
"But it did something worse, too. It took away all of our history from before the time you came here to our country. It's like before you came here, we didn't exist. You won't believe anything we tell you unless you can dig up some pot or an arrowhead. Then you put it in a lot of machines and put chemicals on it so that you can know when it was made, and then you say, 'Now we know about it. Now we know what happened.' Then the man who did the tests writes down what he found out and other people write down what they think about what he found out, and you call that history." (This is followed by another fascinating tangent about how native oral history shares many similarities with biblical history, but one is considered "myth" while the other is considered "truth.")

I'd never heard of this book until two of my book group ladies said they were going to see the film adaptation. (Obviously, this was months ago, but this title took a while to work its way up my to-read list.) Now I'm really curious to see how the film compares, but this is definitely a book that EVERYONE SHOULD READ. Even if you're not American or North American, there's a very good chance that you interact with an indigenous group whose story and culture have been taken from them. READ THIS!

*not his real name as he wished to remain anonymous show less

Not always a comfortable book to read, but very readable, as Nerburn is not afraid to let himself look foolish.
More a story about Nerburn, this narrative challenges us to examine our preconceptions and relationships with Native Americans so that we will see each person as an individual and not a stereotype. At the same time, we get a glimpse of the pain experienced by modern day Indians from past memories and as they try to find a way for themselves in this society which doesn't allow them to follow their cultural values.

When author Kent Nerburn received a phone call from an unknown woman, notifying him that her father, an elderly Native American, wanted to speak with him, Nerburn felt both apprehensive and curious, but nevertheless packed up his car and went. Dan, it turned out, wished for Nerburn to write a book -- not about his own life, necessarily, but about his thoughts, ideas and advice to the world. To Nerburn's surprise, gathering and recording Dan's words would take the form of an impromptu road trip in an ancient Buick over both unmarked roads and terrain that could only be called a road by a stretch of the imagination.

NWND had been on my to-read list for years, and when I saw my library had a crisp, brand new copy I jumped at the chance to show more be the first patron to lay my hands on it. It is a deserving recipient of the 1996 Minnesota Book Award, and I had a difficult time putting it down. Although Dan was adamant that the book not be about his life or just the words of another "wise, old Indian," the reader is nevertheless afforded sneaking glimpses into his past. Dan provides insight on the ways Native American philosophies are alive and well today in unexpected ways, though generally overlooked and invisible to white observers. Naturally, upon finishing I also wondered who Dan really was, and what became of him following the book's publication, but there doesn't seem to be any information readily available, perhaps by design. show less

I am reluctantly and after a night’s reflection giving this novel two stars. I give it 3.5 stars for presenting some difficult and unpalatable truths about the ways indigenous peoples were treated by predominantly white European and later American colonists / settlers / thieves. But i fault the white author for ultimately falling into most of the traps he says he set out to avoid - white savior complex, white guilt, wanting to be accepted or forgiven by indigenous persons. And I fault the narrative itself for its hypocrisy and arrogance, in parts - negative generalizations are okay if directed in a certain way, and a no-go if not so directed.

This is a book very much in the spirit of “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,” show more with the good and bad that entails. Like Pirsig’s book, in the end there’s less to it than meets the eye, and there is no substitute for serious study. In my “read” list are many better books on these topics. show less

It is difficult to categorize this novel. The author is a long time Indian advocate with life experience in the history and peoples of the American past. In this well written novel, he is asked by an Indian elder to write a book from the Indian perspective. The author writes in first person and creates several memorable characters as he "learns" of the elder's ideas and history. Sprinkled with humor, pathos and regret, Nerburn spins a fascinating tale of his encounter.

I have had this book in my to be read pile since- according to the receipt since 2004.
Wow!
Should be required reading in every high school in America.
One man’s opinion but he makes a strong case.
Excellent explanation of what was done to the American Indians and why everything everyone has done since doesn’t fix the problem and oftentimes makes things worse.
Outstanding book!