Neither Wolf Nor Dog

On Forgotten Roads With An Indian Elder

Book review:

By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

Kent Nerburn (The Wisdom of the Native Americans) has been deeply involved in Native American issues and education. In this extraordinary work (which won the 1996 Minnesota Book Award), Nerburn has fashioned a powerful drama around his encounters with Dan, a Lakota elder who unflinchingly speaks the truth about Indian life, past and present.

Like a Zen Master, Dan refuses to whitewash the historical clash between whites and his people. Nerburn comes with certain expectations and idealism that is shattered by Dan's refusal to be written off as just another Native American wise man. The author becomes the brunt of many jokes as he travels down dusty roads, sees reservation life, and is exposed to his own prejudices. This teaching strategy of Dan reminds us of the tricksters in Zen and Sufism who are always trying to take us beyond conventional thinking and dogmatism.

Nerburn gets the point and learns some hard truths about himself and his assumptions about Indians. He respects the diversity of Native American experiences and the differences between tribes. Nerburn stays far away from the clichéd images of the drunken Indian, the vicious savage, the noble wise man and the silent earth-mother. And he acknowledges the harm done by whites who exploit Indian themes or rituals as well as those who fall under the "Cherokee Grandmother" syndrome (claiming a Native American in their family tree and in a flash being able to be one with these people). This smacks of a pernicious kind of spiritual arrogance where whites try to appropriate for themselves the customs and rituals of other cultures and religions.

In one of the most crucial passages in the book, Dan explains to Nerburn why for centuries his people have been unable to see eye to eye with the rest of Americans. Dan explains that for the American white person, the most important thing is freedom. But for an American Indian, the most important thing is honor.

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