Neither Wolf Nor Dog

Dan is the elderly Lakota man who asks Nerburn to help him write a book, setting in motion the action of Neither Wolf Nor Dog. He is the primary protagonist of the book, and many chapters feature long, uninterrupted speeches delivered by Dan to Nerburn. Nerburn describes Dan as “almost eighty” with a face “seamed and rutted” with age and a long grey ponytail (14). Dan’s defining physical characteristic is his “hard expressionless eyes, the one white and cloudy, the other dark and unfathomable” (134). Dan believes that his eyes are a gift from the Creator, telling Nerburn that a sacred elder once told him that he had “one Indian eye and one white eye,” and that this combination gave him “a special way of seeing” (167). Grover similarly believes that Dan is in “touch with a lot of forces” (287), while Nerburn describes Dan’s songs and chanting as “unearthly” (308).

Dan’s defining characteristic is his talent and persuasive power as a speaker. Dan feels compelled to publish a book based on his lifetime of experience: Nerburn calls him “a thinker, pure and simple, who had looked long and hard at the world around him” (18) and decided that “the voice of our people needs to be heard” (24). Having experienced, “eighty years of pain” (294), Dan wants white Americans “to feel his pain” (294), and utilizes Nerburn’s platform and skill to achieve that end. Dan has “an orator’s eloquence” (53) that makes Nerburn want to engage him directly, and Nerburn offers Dan’s speeches to his readers complete and uninterrupted. Nerburn writes that Dan delivers his speeches “like a priest giving a penance or a ritual benediction,” and treats them as sacred texts (125). At other times, Dan speaks “as if he were hearing a voice, and passing along what it said” (278). Nerburn imagines that Dan catches these voices “like a hawk rides wind currents” (166). His reverence for Dan evidences Dan’s skill as a speaker and the wisdom that has come with his experience.

Grover is Dan’s close friend, and acts as the driver on the road trip at the heart of Neither Wolf Nor Dog. Nerburn positions Grover as a foil to Dan: he wears his hair in a crewcut in contrast to Dan’s long ponytail, and his house is tidy and well-maintained, while Dan’s house is cluttered with years of belongings. Nerburn characterizes Grover by his roles as “Dan’s protector” (73) and as the group’s fearless navigator.

Grover represents Nerburn’s first true obstacle in his project with Dan. Nerburn writes that although Grover “[is] willing to work with [Nerburn]” (73), he remained stand-offish: “until proven otherwise, [Nerburn] was just one more in this long tradition of exploiters who had come among the Indian people” (73). Grover’s attitude towards Nerburn reflects the fact that “he [does] not trust [Nerburn] totally,” but also speaks of his love and respect for Dan (73). Grover demonstrates this respect by repeatedly referring to Dan “using the word of highest respect for a grandfather, the word used to refer to the old ones” (164). Grover is also one of the only characters who refers to Dan by his Lakota name, which is not revealed to the reader.

While Grover occasionally interjects into Dan’s long speeches, his primary role on the road trip is as the group’s driver. Grover frequently takes the group off-road directly through the plains over terrain that Nerburn fears is dangerous. Nevertheless, “Grover [drives] with confidence” (143) and “without fear” (225) as if he were “oblivious to the perils of the terrain” (143). In these driving scenes, Nerburn imagines Grover as “the captain” of their group, “plowing through the grassland seas” (225) and “guiding his ship away from the dangers of the treacherous reefs and shoals” (274). These passages, highlighting Grover’s protective nature and his role as the group’s primary navigator, speak to his perspective on and relationship to indigenous land and The Power of the Western Landscape.

Grover’s character is complicated by the fact that he displays some misogynistic tendencies. Dan’s granddaughter Danelle warns Nerburn that Grover “thinks he’s still in the Navy” (247), and reveals that he “slapped her in the tailfeathers once when she walked by” (247).

Wenonah is Dan’s granddaughter. With her younger sister Danelle, Wenonah is one of only two women to speak in Neither Wolf Nor Dog. She is described as “playful” (28) and often teases Nerburn and Grover. Nerburn characterizes Wenonah by her reverence for her grandfather and her willingness to share difficult truths to protect him. Wenonah is the one to encourage Dan to “do something” with the writing fragments he’s collected over the years (17). Wenonah recognizes that “beneath the fragmentary disorder” of her grandfather’s writing “lay a level of insight that was as deep and as clear as a mountain lake” (18). Wenonah contacts Nerburn to secure his help in her grandfather’s project, and grows angry when Nerburn complains about the project, telling him that he “ should be thankful [Dan] talks to [him] at all” (99). Wenonah believes that “it’s a privilege when an elder shares with you” and treats her grandfather as a living source of the wisdom of their people (99). Recognizing his age, she’s also protective of his health, and supervises Nerburn’s first few meetings with Dan, “monitoring his anger and his exertion like a nurse watching a patient” (62). Wenonah’s careful treatment of Dan reflects her reverence for him.

As a result of this reverence, Wenonah is unwilling to accept Nerburn’s criticisms of her grandfather. She is the one who reveals to Nerburn that Dan was “kidnapped from his parents and taken to a boarding school” for forced assimilation and provides horrific details of his abuse to explain why Dan “doesn’t do what white men want anymore” (100).