Neither Wolf Nor Dog

Grover drives the group across the Missouri River and into the white town of Mobridge, South Dakota. Nerburn explains to Dan and Grover how glaciers shaped the plains of the Western states. Grover is impressed by this knowledge, and Nerburn realizes that he has not felt validated by Grover or Dan until this point. He wonders if this is how it feels to be indigenous among white people.

The Mobridge Indian Bible College inspires a speech from Dan about indigenous religion. He argues that Jesus lived like an indigenous person, sharing his possessions and speaking to the Creator as his father. Sitting Bull was killed while travelling to investigate the Ghost Dance, a religious practice inspired by a Messiah-like figure named Wovoka. Wovoka preached that the Ghost Dance would resurrect the dead and lead to the creation of a new, peaceful world. Dan suggests that the government opposed the Ghost Dance because it feared that Wovoka was right, and Jesus really might return to punish white people for their treatment of indigenous communities. The fervor of Dan’s speech leaves him exhausted and depressed. Nerburn wonders if he can continue the project.

Grover announces that there are two hours left in their journey. As they drive into the night, Nerburn grows increasingly uncomfortable with Dan’s silence. Nerburn can sense Dan’s anger and depression building in the aftermath of his speech about the Ghost Dance and Sitting Bull. Although he knows Dan and Grover value silence, Nerburn begins to question Dan about how white people can atone for the crimes of their ancestors. Dan replies that he is too old to have a solution, and that young people must find the answer. When Nerburn protests that the purpose of their book is to find a solution, Dan accuses him of pushing too hard. He claims that white people have been pushing indigenous communities since they first arrived on the American continent.

Sensing Dan’s growing anger, Grover pulls over and turns off the car. Dan leaves the car and wanders off into the darkened plains, chanting softly to himself in Lakota. Grover explains that Dan is close to the spirit world, and can sometimes see across. Although Nerburn is anxious for Dan’s safety, Grover seems unconcerned. He points to a hawk flying overhead and explains that it is watching over Dan. Soon after, Dan returns to the car, his mood visibly improved.

After hours of driving, the trio arrives at their destination: a tiny, disheveled house in the middle of a wide basin. An old indigenous woman, whom Grover identifies as Annie, greets them. Dan disappears into a back room, and Annie tells Nerburn to sleep on a bed outside. The next morning, Nerburn sits with Annie as the sun rises. She prays in English with Catholic rosary beads then shows Nerburn a picture of herself and Dan as children at an Industrial School.

Another truck arrives carrying a young indigenous family who introduce themselves formally to Nerburn. Nerburn learns that the young woman, Danelle, is the daughter of Dan’s late son Bobby, and that Annie is Bobby’s mother-in-law. Danelle’s husband reveals that Dan’s wife was a white social worker. Danelle questions Nerburn’s intentions with her grandfather. When Nerburn promises that he is trying to help, Danelle makes him promise to follow Dan’s instructions. She warns Nerburn not to listen to Dan when it comes to women, noting that he married a white woman. She claims that Dan doesn’t understand indigenous women, but that they are the future of indigenous culture.

As Grover and Dan say their goodbyes, Danelle’s three young children approach Nerburn. The youngest boy, Eugene, has fair skin, curly blond hair and blue eyes, and looks dramatically different than his dark-featured siblings, Myron and April. Eugene asks Nerburn if he is white, and explains that his father is a white man living in California. The exchange makes Nerburn miss his own son even more. Nerburn gives the three children quarters and tries to speak to Myron, but he refuses. When Myron finally walks away, Eugene reluctantly follows him.

As the group drives away, Nerburn continues to think about Eugene. As if reading his mind, Dan asks why he dedicated so much attention to the boy. Nerburn defensively explains that Eugene reminded him of his son, but Dan insists that Nerburn was drawn to him because he is half-white. He argues that white people don’t see children like Eugene as indigenous, but they also don’t see them as white. On the other hand, indigenous communities treat mixed-race children as a full part of the indigenous community. When Nerburn protests, Dan gives him a drawing made by April depicting Nerburn and Eugene laughing apart from the other children.