“Neither Wolf Nor Dog” by Kent Nerburn is a truly profound insight into the heart of Native American culture, specifically the Lakota Sioux. A moving combination of memoir and self-reflection, Nerburn follows an elderly Lakota man named Dan and his younger companion Grover across the stunning landscapes of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

The narrative is rich with dialogue between the three, offering remarkable insights into Native American perspectives on history, identity, spirituality, and the impact of colonialism. Nerburn, initially hired to write a book about Dan’s life, finds himself on an unexpected educational path, confronting his own cultural assumptions and biases. The author makes great personal sacrifices which challenge the relationship between Dan and himself making compelling, thought provoking arguments as to how we live our lives.

Nerburn’s writing is both engaging and reflective, he learns much, particularly poignant is his need to have a plan, a sense of order and how uncomfortable he feels when that is taken from him. In the West we are obsessed with time and timeframes, boxes to be ticked and the unhealthy relationship we have with routine. Dan removes this order from Nerburn deliberately to prove a point about the stress we place on ourselves for the most insignificant reasons.

Dan, the central character is complex, revealing well-lived wisdom which is both enlightening and challenging whilst Grover adds a clever, pointed humor helping to bridge the gap between the traditional and the contemporary. The interplay between Dan and Grover is warming and reassuring for the future. Nerburn, as the narrator, evolves from an outsider setting out with good intentions but often frustrated and challenged by Dan to someone who develops a much deeper understanding of the experience of the Native Americans. By the end all three show the reader how communities can come together through dialogue and shared understanding.

Neither Wolf Nor Dog is a very important part of the cultural history of the Native American, it is a balanced, poignant account of the challenges faced by communities such as Dan and Grover’s. It pulls few punches yet remains respectful to both sides, inviting the reader to pause and reflect on their understanding of this particular culture and its history. There are many moments in the book which stopped me in my tracks, this is not a book about where the burden of past guilt lies but rather a critique of who and what we have become in the modern world. What our values are today compared to our ancestors and most especially those ancestors who lived directly off the land, the sacred land…

I will end with this beautiful paragraph:

“And here is something that I think is important – your religion didn’t come from the land. It could be carried around with you. You couldn’t understand what it meant to us to have our religion in the land. Your religion was in a cup and a piece of bread, and that could be carried in a box. Your priests could make it sacred anywhere. You couldn’t understand that what was sacred for us was where we were, because that is where the sacred things had happened and where the spirits talked to us.”