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Neither Wolf Nor Dog #2
The Wolf at Twilight: An Indian Elder's Journey through a Land of Ghosts and Shadows
A note is left on a car windshield, an old dog dies, and Kent Nerburn finds himself back on the Lakota reservation where he traveled more than a decade before with a tribal elder named Dan. The touching, funny, and haunting journey that ensues goes deep into reservation boarding-school mysteries, the dark confines of sweat lodges, and isolated Native homesteads far back in the Dakota hills in search of ghosts that have haunted Dan since childhood.
In this fictionalized account of actual events, Nerburn brings the land of the northern High Plains alive and reveals the Native American way of teaching and learning with a depth that few outsiders have ever captured.
In this fictionalized account of actual events, Nerburn brings the land of the northern High Plains alive and reveals the Native American way of teaching and learning with a depth that few outsiders have ever captured.
368 pages, Paperback
First published November 3, 2009
147 people are currently reading
1779 people want to read
About the author
Kent Nerburn
37 books463 followersI'm a child of the 60's, a son of the north, and a lover of dogs.
Grew up in a crackerbox post-war bungalow outside of Minneapolis with my mother and father, two younger sisters, various dogs and cats, and a neighborhood full of rugrat kids playing outside until called in for the night.
Studied American Studies at the University of Minnesota, Religious Studies and Humanities at Stanford University, received a Ph.D. in Religion and Art in a joint program at Graduate Theological Union and the University of California at Berkeley. Lots of learning, lots of awards. Phi Beta Kappa. Summa cum Laude. Lots of stuff that looks good on paper.
But just as important, an antique restorer's shop in Marburg, Germany; the museums of Florence; a sculpture studio in the back alleys of Pietrasanta, Italy; an Indian reservation in the forests of northern Minnesota; and, perhaps above all, the American road.
Always a watcher, always a wanderer, perhaps too empathetic for my own good, more concerned with the "other" than the "self", always more interested in what people believed than in what they thought. A friend of the ordinary and the life of the streets.
Twenty years as a sculptor -- over-life sized images hand-chiseled from large tree trunks -- efforts to embody emotional and spiritual states in wood. Then, still searching, years helping young people collect memories of the tribal elders on the Red Lake Ojibwe reservation in the Minnesota north. Then writing,
always writing, finding a voice and even a calling, helping Native America tell its story.
A marriage, children, a home on a pine-rimmed lake near the Minnesota-Canadian border.
Book after book, seventeen in all, ever seeking the heartbeat of people's belief. Journeys, consolations, the caring observer, always the teacher, always the learner. Ever mindful of the wise counsel of an Ojibwe elder, "Always teach by stories, because stories lodge deep in the heart."
Through grace and good luck, an important trilogy (Neither Wolf nor Dog, The Wolf at Twilight, and The Girl who Sang to the Buffalo), a film, Minnesota Book Awards, South Dakota book of the year, many "community reads," book sales around the world.
In the end, a reluctant promoter, a quiet worker, a seeker of an authentic American spirituality, more concerned with excellence than quantity. Proud to be referred to as "a guerilla theologian" and honored to be called "the one writer who can respectfully bridge the gap between native and non-Native cultures". But more honored still to hear a twelve-year-old girl at one of my readings whisper to her mom, "He's a really nice man."
At heart, just an ordinary person, grateful to be a father and a husband, more impressed by kindness than by power, doing what I can with the skills that I have to pay my rent for my time on earth. And trying, always trying, to live by Sitting Bull's entreaty: "Come let us put our minds together to see what kind of lives we can create for our children."
And petting every dog that I can.
Grew up in a crackerbox post-war bungalow outside of Minneapolis with my mother and father, two younger sisters, various dogs and cats, and a neighborhood full of rugrat kids playing outside until called in for the night.
Studied American Studies at the University of Minnesota, Religious Studies and Humanities at Stanford University, received a Ph.D. in Religion and Art in a joint program at Graduate Theological Union and the University of California at Berkeley. Lots of learning, lots of awards. Phi Beta Kappa. Summa cum Laude. Lots of stuff that looks good on paper.
But just as important, an antique restorer's shop in Marburg, Germany; the museums of Florence; a sculpture studio in the back alleys of Pietrasanta, Italy; an Indian reservation in the forests of northern Minnesota; and, perhaps above all, the American road.
Always a watcher, always a wanderer, perhaps too empathetic for my own good, more concerned with the "other" than the "self", always more interested in what people believed than in what they thought. A friend of the ordinary and the life of the streets.
Twenty years as a sculptor -- over-life sized images hand-chiseled from large tree trunks -- efforts to embody emotional and spiritual states in wood. Then, still searching, years helping young people collect memories of the tribal elders on the Red Lake Ojibwe reservation in the Minnesota north. Then writing,
always writing, finding a voice and even a calling, helping Native America tell its story.
A marriage, children, a home on a pine-rimmed lake near the Minnesota-Canadian border.
Book after book, seventeen in all, ever seeking the heartbeat of people's belief. Journeys, consolations, the caring observer, always the teacher, always the learner. Ever mindful of the wise counsel of an Ojibwe elder, "Always teach by stories, because stories lodge deep in the heart."
Through grace and good luck, an important trilogy (Neither Wolf nor Dog, The Wolf at Twilight, and The Girl who Sang to the Buffalo), a film, Minnesota Book Awards, South Dakota book of the year, many "community reads," book sales around the world.
In the end, a reluctant promoter, a quiet worker, a seeker of an authentic American spirituality, more concerned with excellence than quantity. Proud to be referred to as "a guerilla theologian" and honored to be called "the one writer who can respectfully bridge the gap between native and non-Native cultures". But more honored still to hear a twelve-year-old girl at one of my readings whisper to her mom, "He's a really nice man."
At heart, just an ordinary person, grateful to be a father and a husband, more impressed by kindness than by power, doing what I can with the skills that I have to pay my rent for my time on earth. And trying, always trying, to live by Sitting Bull's entreaty: "Come let us put our minds together to see what kind of lives we can create for our children."
And petting every dog that I can.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 206 reviews
November 25, 2021
This novel explores the experience of being Lakota. The book’s narrative is a composite of conversations with an Indian elder Dan and his friends who live on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The story is told in the first person voice of the author and thus carries the tone of a memoir.
The first part of the book provides a taste of life on the Rez through the author’s account of helping Dan bury of dog who had been a faithful friend and also a description of a sweat lodge experience. After these preliminaries we learn about the real reason the author has been invited to the Rez.
Dan, the Indian elder, is about ninety years old and knows he is nearing the end of his life. But before he dies he seeks resolution of a mystery that has haunted him all his life. He wants to learn what happened to his long-lost sister Yellow Bird who disappeared from an American Indian boarding school over 80 years ago.
Through the telling of the story about the disappearance of Yellow Bird the reader of this novel is informed about the widespread mistreatment of students at these schools. Many died from communicable diseases at these schools, and their parents were often not fully informed of the reasons for their children’s failure to return home. Sometimes the children were loaned out as servants to white families and sometime adopted. In Yellow Bird’s case she simply disappeared with no explanation.
The second half of the book is an account of the author’s searching for records and clues regarding what happened to Yellow Bird. It’s a suspenseful search that grabs and holds the reader’s attention.
The following quotation is a sample of Dan’s message to the author:
The first part of the book provides a taste of life on the Rez through the author’s account of helping Dan bury of dog who had been a faithful friend and also a description of a sweat lodge experience. After these preliminaries we learn about the real reason the author has been invited to the Rez.
Dan, the Indian elder, is about ninety years old and knows he is nearing the end of his life. But before he dies he seeks resolution of a mystery that has haunted him all his life. He wants to learn what happened to his long-lost sister Yellow Bird who disappeared from an American Indian boarding school over 80 years ago.
Through the telling of the story about the disappearance of Yellow Bird the reader of this novel is informed about the widespread mistreatment of students at these schools. Many died from communicable diseases at these schools, and their parents were often not fully informed of the reasons for their children’s failure to return home. Sometimes the children were loaned out as servants to white families and sometime adopted. In Yellow Bird’s case she simply disappeared with no explanation.
The second half of the book is an account of the author’s searching for records and clues regarding what happened to Yellow Bird. It’s a suspenseful search that grabs and holds the reader’s attention.
The following quotation is a sample of Dan’s message to the author:
“... The lives of my people and your people once ran like separate waters. But now they have come together. I am not saying that this is good or bad. Only the creator knows such things. I only know that the stream of our children’s lives has merged with yours and that all of us must now travel together on the journey of life.Below is a copy of a photo I found on the web titled "Boarding School Students in Minnesota." I've inserted it here to reinforce the point that these institutions really did exist, and that they were warehousing many students, including the very young.
“What we must do now is learn from each other—the way it was when your people first came here. We must reach out hands out to each other again. My people must keep our hearts open to what is good about your ways, and you must open your hearts again to what is good about ours. It is time for our Indian voices—the voices that have been silenced—to be heard again.”
...
“This is why I come to you. Your people do not hear us because they do not see us. They see drunks. They see shacks. They see casinos and wise men and people with their hands out. They see everything they want to see, but they don’t see us. And if they don’t see us, they don’t hear us. And if they don’t hear us, they can’t learn from us.”
June 8, 2015
A compelling follow up to Neither Wolf, Nor Dog , this second installment in the trilogy of Nerburn's encounters with the Lakota elder the reader only ever knows as "Dan" is a more intensely personal journey --- into Dan's history with the Residential School system, and the loss of his sister, Yellow Bird.
Perhaps most interesting is that from the beginning - literally in the foreword - Nerburn makes it clear to the reader that these books are novelizations of his work with Dan. Although Nerburn indicates to readers in the first book that Dan has asked him to 'hide his trail' as if he's being hunted, it was not apparently clear to many readers that the end result would, inherently, be less than literal, in order to protect Dan's identity and to focus on the key elements that both Nerburn and Dan wanted to communicate - the teachings that Dan was compelled to impart and the emotional connections between the two men. In fact, apparently in direct opposition of Dan's explicit wishes as expressed through Nerburn in the Foreword of that first book, and throughout the book, apparently there were many people who, upon reading Neither Wolf Nor Dog were persistent in their attempts to either request ways to contact Dan or to seek him out.
In my work teaching English to secondary students, I point out - repeatedly - that any memoir is by it's very nature both true but also simply a version of the truth as one person (or a group of collaborators) perceived true events. Certainly psychology and criminologists know that eye witness testimony can be some of the least reliable of "proof" of crimes, as the human brain plays us false all of the time. Our brain creates false images for us constantly (look up terms like "find your blind spot" or others like it and you will get thousands of hits). Or look at the class Asch experiment, which demonstrates how our perception of something simple like the length of a line is completely influenced by the expressions of perception by those around us. What we believe to be "non fiction" or "true" is often - indeed almost always - a matter of perception. Nerburn simply reveals, from the get go, that this is an intentional process in this book - that he is distilling the key learnings, emotional connections and experiences from his time with Dan, Grover, Orv, Jumbo, and other individuals and and sharing them with those who read the book. The rest is pared away - in part to protect Dan and the others, in part because it is not relevant to what Dan is sharing and hopes people will hear and understand.
In it's way a bit darker than the first book, the beginning of this book also has - to my mind, more 'laugh out loud' moments. We meet new people from Reserve, and learn more about Dan as an individual. In terms of the information that is shared about the Residential School system, I didn't personally learn anything new, but perhaps that is because, as Nerburn notes, the system was, here in Canada, more thoroughly utilized as a method of genocide by assimilation, and the atrocities perpetuated in the government and church run institutions have been slightly more thoroughly documented and disseminated, particularly recently through the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee, and through both its success and its failures to meet its mandates. Canada has also been called to task very recently - spring 2014 - by the United Nations for its ongoing infringement on the basic human rights of the Aboriginal peoples of this land, of the Government's historical, persistent and current refusal to honour the Treaties and the UN Declaration of the Rights of Aboriginal Peoples, and refusal to take full responsibility for the genocidal nature of the overtly racist aims of the Residential School system. I live North of 60, and work in a Territory where the majority of the population is First Nations, and yet the majority of employment positions of authority are held by people not indigenous to the area. People living below the poverty line are overwhelmingly those of First Nations descent. Our Territory saw the last Residential School in Canada close its doors, and I work with individuals who attended Residential School, whose parents attended Residential School, who lost family members in Residential Schools. One community here lost almost an entire generation of children to an epidemic - from a tiny fly-in only community, and far from home, they were uniquely susceptible to illnesses that sickened but generally did not kill children of European descent. Government and Churches saw little reason to invest much money caring for a bunch of low class natives, and without natural immunities or proper care, their numbers were decimated.
This is the world I live in - a white person who hears these stories told as matter of fact, all of the time, because they are. It is a given that in any gathering here, there will be many people whose life story includes trauma that can be tied directly to events in and around Residential Schools. Great harm was done and there is a huge body of research on the impacts of intergenerational influences of trauma., which you can also look into if you are interested. As a result, in some ways, I felt that this book was almost too ... gentle? let too much off the hook? Again, however, it is mentioned that the USA and Canada handled Residential Schools differently, and in that, the comparison is to Canada's great shame.
If you enjoyed learning from Dan and Grover and Nerburn and Jumbo in Neither Dog Nor Wolf I believe that you would find this book a worthy investment of your time. If you want to learn something more about why First Nations people feel so strongly about what happened in the Residential Schools, and why the pain is still carried, I can recommend this book as a starting point. If you've ever known an Elder (regardless of race) from whom you've learned in part because they brooked no nonsense, then I believe you'd enjoy "meeting" Dan, and that you might enjoy these books.
Perhaps most interesting is that from the beginning - literally in the foreword - Nerburn makes it clear to the reader that these books are novelizations of his work with Dan. Although Nerburn indicates to readers in the first book that Dan has asked him to 'hide his trail' as if he's being hunted, it was not apparently clear to many readers that the end result would, inherently, be less than literal, in order to protect Dan's identity and to focus on the key elements that both Nerburn and Dan wanted to communicate - the teachings that Dan was compelled to impart and the emotional connections between the two men. In fact, apparently in direct opposition of Dan's explicit wishes as expressed through Nerburn in the Foreword of that first book, and throughout the book, apparently there were many people who, upon reading Neither Wolf Nor Dog were persistent in their attempts to either request ways to contact Dan or to seek him out.
In my work teaching English to secondary students, I point out - repeatedly - that any memoir is by it's very nature both true but also simply a version of the truth as one person (or a group of collaborators) perceived true events. Certainly psychology and criminologists know that eye witness testimony can be some of the least reliable of "proof" of crimes, as the human brain plays us false all of the time. Our brain creates false images for us constantly (look up terms like "find your blind spot" or others like it and you will get thousands of hits). Or look at the class Asch experiment, which demonstrates how our perception of something simple like the length of a line is completely influenced by the expressions of perception by those around us. What we believe to be "non fiction" or "true" is often - indeed almost always - a matter of perception. Nerburn simply reveals, from the get go, that this is an intentional process in this book - that he is distilling the key learnings, emotional connections and experiences from his time with Dan, Grover, Orv, Jumbo, and other individuals and and sharing them with those who read the book. The rest is pared away - in part to protect Dan and the others, in part because it is not relevant to what Dan is sharing and hopes people will hear and understand.
In it's way a bit darker than the first book, the beginning of this book also has - to my mind, more 'laugh out loud' moments. We meet new people from Reserve, and learn more about Dan as an individual. In terms of the information that is shared about the Residential School system, I didn't personally learn anything new, but perhaps that is because, as Nerburn notes, the system was, here in Canada, more thoroughly utilized as a method of genocide by assimilation, and the atrocities perpetuated in the government and church run institutions have been slightly more thoroughly documented and disseminated, particularly recently through the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee, and through both its success and its failures to meet its mandates. Canada has also been called to task very recently - spring 2014 - by the United Nations for its ongoing infringement on the basic human rights of the Aboriginal peoples of this land, of the Government's historical, persistent and current refusal to honour the Treaties and the UN Declaration of the Rights of Aboriginal Peoples, and refusal to take full responsibility for the genocidal nature of the overtly racist aims of the Residential School system. I live North of 60, and work in a Territory where the majority of the population is First Nations, and yet the majority of employment positions of authority are held by people not indigenous to the area. People living below the poverty line are overwhelmingly those of First Nations descent. Our Territory saw the last Residential School in Canada close its doors, and I work with individuals who attended Residential School, whose parents attended Residential School, who lost family members in Residential Schools. One community here lost almost an entire generation of children to an epidemic - from a tiny fly-in only community, and far from home, they were uniquely susceptible to illnesses that sickened but generally did not kill children of European descent. Government and Churches saw little reason to invest much money caring for a bunch of low class natives, and without natural immunities or proper care, their numbers were decimated.
This is the world I live in - a white person who hears these stories told as matter of fact, all of the time, because they are. It is a given that in any gathering here, there will be many people whose life story includes trauma that can be tied directly to events in and around Residential Schools. Great harm was done and there is a huge body of research on the impacts of intergenerational influences of trauma., which you can also look into if you are interested. As a result, in some ways, I felt that this book was almost too ... gentle? let too much off the hook? Again, however, it is mentioned that the USA and Canada handled Residential Schools differently, and in that, the comparison is to Canada's great shame.
If you enjoyed learning from Dan and Grover and Nerburn and Jumbo in Neither Dog Nor Wolf I believe that you would find this book a worthy investment of your time. If you want to learn something more about why First Nations people feel so strongly about what happened in the Residential Schools, and why the pain is still carried, I can recommend this book as a starting point. If you've ever known an Elder (regardless of race) from whom you've learned in part because they brooked no nonsense, then I believe you'd enjoy "meeting" Dan, and that you might enjoy these books.
March 24, 2014
I have been resistant to reading any of Kent Nerburn's works because of my own experiences as an outsider with an insider's perspective into the lives and community of Turtle Island's original people. In fact, the only reason I picked up this book was because I needed to read it for a book group through work. I know how hard and how crucial it is for a non-Native writer to get it -- the representation of Native people, Native cultures, contemporary Native lives -- right, and I didn't want to read another white writer who co-opted an Indigenous culture and its people for personal gain.
Nerburn got it right. Nerburn helped his friend, Lakota elder Dan, get closure. Dan helped Nerburn understand the Lakota worldview. This was a beautiful, powerful memoir of a friendship, of lessons learned, and of doing the right thing by a fellow human being. In addition, Dan's wisdom resonates.
Nerburn got it right. Nerburn helped his friend, Lakota elder Dan, get closure. Dan helped Nerburn understand the Lakota worldview. This was a beautiful, powerful memoir of a friendship, of lessons learned, and of doing the right thing by a fellow human being. In addition, Dan's wisdom resonates.
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January 17, 2010The Wolf at Twilight is a multi-faceted book disguised as a fictionalized account of actual events. The book begins as the author receives a mysterious note telling him that the dog of an old friend has passed. Immediately, the author understands that this is an important message.
The author makes the trip to the reserve where he helps his friend lay the dog to rest. Then, the author finds out the deeper meaning of the call. He has been charged with helping his old friend find his lost sister. One of the biggest problems being that no one has seen the sister since she was a girl and didn’t come home from the boarding school one summer.
On the surface, The Wolf at Twilight seeks to open our eyes to the horrible things that happened (and still happen) to native people in North America. The devastating effects of small pox, famine, and war on the traditional native way of life. The everyday experiences of children who were taken away from their families to go to boarding schools where they weren’t allowed to talk their own language, were treated cruelly, and suffered indignities that we can’t even comprehend. Then, the after effects of the loss of culture, family, and a sense of self.
However, on a deeper level, we begin to realize how we fail to see anything but our own way of being. We judge everything and everyone from our own perspective. In doing so, we miss the beauty and the potential lessons that others could provide. It’s rather like building a jigsaw puzzle with half the pieces missing.
The author makes the trip to the reserve where he helps his friend lay the dog to rest. Then, the author finds out the deeper meaning of the call. He has been charged with helping his old friend find his lost sister. One of the biggest problems being that no one has seen the sister since she was a girl and didn’t come home from the boarding school one summer.
On the surface, The Wolf at Twilight seeks to open our eyes to the horrible things that happened (and still happen) to native people in North America. The devastating effects of small pox, famine, and war on the traditional native way of life. The everyday experiences of children who were taken away from their families to go to boarding schools where they weren’t allowed to talk their own language, were treated cruelly, and suffered indignities that we can’t even comprehend. Then, the after effects of the loss of culture, family, and a sense of self.
However, on a deeper level, we begin to realize how we fail to see anything but our own way of being. We judge everything and everyone from our own perspective. In doing so, we miss the beauty and the potential lessons that others could provide. It’s rather like building a jigsaw puzzle with half the pieces missing.
August 20, 2020
I started reading The Wolf at Twilight and decided that I had to read Neither Wolf Nor Dog again first.
OK I finished Neither Wolf Nor Dog, now to start The Wolf at Twilight again.
How can a tragic story about the ugly institution of Indian boarding schools, suffering, and death be uplifting and hopeful? Only because it is told by an elder. Dan is the wisest person I have ever encountered in person or in books. I share a couple of wisdoms from Dan. "We are not at the center of creation, we are just a part of creation". "This is something that we have tried to share with your people. We have tried to remind you that life is not a straight line from birth to death, but a circle where the young and old hold hands at the door of the Great Mystery".
OK I finished Neither Wolf Nor Dog, now to start The Wolf at Twilight again.
How can a tragic story about the ugly institution of Indian boarding schools, suffering, and death be uplifting and hopeful? Only because it is told by an elder. Dan is the wisest person I have ever encountered in person or in books. I share a couple of wisdoms from Dan. "We are not at the center of creation, we are just a part of creation". "This is something that we have tried to share with your people. We have tried to remind you that life is not a straight line from birth to death, but a circle where the young and old hold hands at the door of the Great Mystery".
October 4, 2014
The second in the heart wrenching trilogy of elder Dan's journey. I was also lucky enough to get a personal signed copy of this book from the author. All three in the trilogy actually, which made me cry as these are some of my favorite books.
Dan steals your heart looking for the answers to what happened to his sister. Telling the stories of the way they were treated. The characters are all to love. You will laugh and cry. You will be broken in a way to think of the horrible things people do and still do.
I think everyone should read these beautiful books and take a moment to think of your own lives.
Dan steals your heart looking for the answers to what happened to his sister. Telling the stories of the way they were treated. The characters are all to love. You will laugh and cry. You will be broken in a way to think of the horrible things people do and still do.
I think everyone should read these beautiful books and take a moment to think of your own lives.
January 10, 2021
This book is a must!
It's difficult to find the right words to describe this amazing book. It was beautifully written, but such a tragic story that somehow includes peace and humor.
...but I found myself disappointed in my school history books and teachers...I feel like I should have known these stories sooner. History has done so much damage...the only real way to make amends is to share the truth, no matter how horrid it may be.
It's difficult to find the right words to describe this amazing book. It was beautifully written, but such a tragic story that somehow includes peace and humor.
...but I found myself disappointed in my school history books and teachers...I feel like I should have known these stories sooner. History has done so much damage...the only real way to make amends is to share the truth, no matter how horrid it may be.
February 4, 2010
I didn't know this was a sequel. It reads well on its own, but was so good I want to read the first book. There were some comments about religion, comparing all to fingers on the same hand of the creator, that were very moving and insightful.
June 21, 2010
A most profound story about Native American treatment by whites and the relationship over the years. Very well written and educational. If only all whites would read this book!
September 24, 2025
Well, I'm in the minority with this review. This is the third book I've read by this author. I loved the first one, the second one didn't quite work for me and sadly, this one didn't either. If you loved this one or the author, you might want to scroll on by because I wasn't feeling it.
The author had great intention. He wanted to honor his Lakota elder friend, Dan, by finding his sister for him. Dan and his sister were separated as children when they attended the special schools run by mean nuns to reeducate the Native American children...making them less indian and more white. The author's mission in finding Dan's sister was heartfelt and kind of sweet and I added a star for that. However, unfortunately, the execution bothered me.
It felt like it took forever for Dan's story to come through mostly because the author's story and Dan's story kept colliding. It felt like a competition or rather a setup and there was already a clear winner. This made Dan's story seem even longer. Normally, I don't mind an intentional slow burn. This may have started out as that, but it was amplified and not in a good way.
Dan was clearly carrying hot anger & hurt, over the mistreatment of his people for generations. But at times, it felt like Dan was redirecting those feelings toward the author. I'd like to think he was really just trying to get Nerburn to understand the past of the Lakota but it came across as so much more than just that. The undercurrent was uncomfortable. I've heard stories from my dad who lived on and off the rez. It was hard. Living in the Anglo world was even harder. Standing your ground, as my dad would say, was just life. I get that but still, this was hard to read. And that felt like the overall intention of the author.
All in all, the execution didn't work for me. Plus, this moved too slow. The story eventually produced a sweet outcome and I can see how most would have connected to this story, but I'm not one of them. So 2.5 stars.
The author had great intention. He wanted to honor his Lakota elder friend, Dan, by finding his sister for him. Dan and his sister were separated as children when they attended the special schools run by mean nuns to reeducate the Native American children...making them less indian and more white. The author's mission in finding Dan's sister was heartfelt and kind of sweet and I added a star for that. However, unfortunately, the execution bothered me.
It felt like it took forever for Dan's story to come through mostly because the author's story and Dan's story kept colliding. It felt like a competition or rather a setup and there was already a clear winner. This made Dan's story seem even longer. Normally, I don't mind an intentional slow burn. This may have started out as that, but it was amplified and not in a good way.
Dan was clearly carrying hot anger & hurt, over the mistreatment of his people for generations. But at times, it felt like Dan was redirecting those feelings toward the author. I'd like to think he was really just trying to get Nerburn to understand the past of the Lakota but it came across as so much more than just that. The undercurrent was uncomfortable. I've heard stories from my dad who lived on and off the rez. It was hard. Living in the Anglo world was even harder. Standing your ground, as my dad would say, was just life. I get that but still, this was hard to read. And that felt like the overall intention of the author.
All in all, the execution didn't work for me. Plus, this moved too slow. The story eventually produced a sweet outcome and I can see how most would have connected to this story, but I'm not one of them. So 2.5 stars.
October 31, 2020
I don't even care that this was "a fictionalized account of actual events. " Book two in this trilogy exceeded my expectations for this series and was a full star better than the first book, but these books should be read in order for full understanding. In this, we finally see a more skeptical Nerburn, one who asks more questions and expresses more doubts, which in my opinion felt like a more honest conversation of a white man and a Lakota elder. The unwinding story captured my focus and I read the last 150 pages in one sitting and on the edge of my seat.
December 31, 2009
I like this book a lot. The writing style is good and the story is engaging. The content of the story hit me too, though it probably wouldn't mean the same to everyone. I'm going to see about his other books too.
August 23, 2015
A beautiful story of loss. It's worth reading if only for the final speech about the nature of people and how important children and elders are. It gave me a lot of insight into my own culture and that of Indians.
August 8, 2021
I felt it was even better than the first of this trilogy. I have learned so much to apply to my life and feel a closeness to the way we should live and look at things. Highly recommend this book but u must read Neither Dog nor Wolf first. On to the third book!!!
January 25, 2016
One of my favorite books of 2010. A great read!
June 8, 2015
Written beautiful. The author is a lovely storyteller.
January 17, 2024
A deep look into Native American culture and the tragic history of how their culture changed over time. Written in first person and done really well by the author. Must read book 1 before this one otherwise it won’t make much sense
August 10, 2022
This is a wonderful, though painful series that tells the story of an Indian elder. In the second book he searches for his lost sister, and tells the horrific story of the Catholic boarding schools. Highly recommend this series to anyone interested in the Native experience.
June 12, 2020
This is the sequel to [Neither Wolf nor Dog] which I enjoyed earlier this year. Although this second book does refer to some earlier events, it could easily be be read as a stand alone.
Once more author Kent Nerburn is summoned by Dan, an elder in the Lakota tribe.
Dan would like Nerburn to discover what happened to his little sister. Some seventy years previously, she was kidnapped into the Indian School program, and although Dan had tried to go with her, they were separated and moved. The family never heard from her again. Dan is approaching the end of his life and would like to know her fate.
It’s an impossible task, but with some synchronicity/spiritual leading Nerburn finds clues leading to her trail. And as it unfolds, a spiritually lost young man, dubbed by the tribe as ‘Shitty’ also finds his way.
This one is a bit more sentimental than the first. But I guarantee that readers will remember the story of this lost girl – one of so many who disappeared into the Indian School system
Once more author Kent Nerburn is summoned by Dan, an elder in the Lakota tribe.
Dan would like Nerburn to discover what happened to his little sister. Some seventy years previously, she was kidnapped into the Indian School program, and although Dan had tried to go with her, they were separated and moved. The family never heard from her again. Dan is approaching the end of his life and would like to know her fate.
It’s an impossible task, but with some synchronicity/spiritual leading Nerburn finds clues leading to her trail. And as it unfolds, a spiritually lost young man, dubbed by the tribe as ‘Shitty’ also finds his way.
This one is a bit more sentimental than the first. But I guarantee that readers will remember the story of this lost girl – one of so many who disappeared into the Indian School system
December 29, 2021
A Lakota elder known only as Dan summons author Kent Nerburn to accompany him on a spiritual journey, first to bury his beloved dog, Fatback, and then to find out what happened to his little sister, Yellow Bird, 80 years earlier.
Yellow Bird's existence has receded into the mists of time but finding her becomes something of an obsession for Nerburn, who is told that she was taken to an Indian boarding school and failed to come home. As Dan shares his values, the book becomes a critique of white people's values--enslavement to the clock, ambition and supposed progress--as an unhappy way to live.
The Wolf at Twilight is the middle book of a trilogy, but this book did not seem dependent on having knowledge from the first book, which I have not read.
Nerburn lives in northern Minnesota among the Ojibwe and is a an accomplished translator of Indian culture for those of us in the white world.
Yellow Bird's existence has receded into the mists of time but finding her becomes something of an obsession for Nerburn, who is told that she was taken to an Indian boarding school and failed to come home. As Dan shares his values, the book becomes a critique of white people's values--enslavement to the clock, ambition and supposed progress--as an unhappy way to live.
The Wolf at Twilight is the middle book of a trilogy, but this book did not seem dependent on having knowledge from the first book, which I have not read.
Nerburn lives in northern Minnesota among the Ojibwe and is a an accomplished translator of Indian culture for those of us in the white world.
January 18, 2020
Yet again, a heartbreaking insight into one American Indian Elder's (Dan's) experience is expertly narrated by Kent Nerburn, this time focusing on the brutality of Native American boarding schools. Dan effortlessly weaves stories of the unimaginable sorrow and loss in his life, and the lives of his Lakota people, with an offering of the only way to peace for white people: an acknowledgement that as descendants of this great American shame, we need to claim it as our own and make steps toward healing. The second in a trilogy of sorts. If you haven't read _Neither Wolf Nor Dog_ start there, but do NOT end there. This book should be read by every Non-Native person living on "American" soil.
March 6, 2015
I have been looking for this book for a long time. I knew the message from years of studying native history and culture and participating in Lakota ceremonies. I have been looking for this story told by a native elder who still knew the old ways.
Kent Nerburn has done us all a great service. He has done what few white people are willing or able to do.... just shut up and listen.
The book reminded me of my favourite quote from Avatar. Jake Scully claimed to be visiting the Na'vi to learn their ways. Moat replied: "It is hard to fill a cup that is already full."
Kent Nerburn has done us all a great service. He has done what few white people are willing or able to do.... just shut up and listen.
The book reminded me of my favourite quote from Avatar. Jake Scully claimed to be visiting the Na'vi to learn their ways. Moat replied: "It is hard to fill a cup that is already full."
July 27, 2016
This was a great follow up to Neither Wolf nor Dog. I loved it. Kent continues his journey with Dan. It was a thoughtful, moving, heartfelt look into the Indian boarding schools and the horror they inflicted on 3 generations of people. This story was told so beautifully and with love and wisdom. Everyone should read it. Good advice for people to come together and work for the future of our children.
January 19, 2020
Nerburn gets called back to learn from Dan, a Lakota tribal elder. At 90, Dan is ready to share the story of his time in the residential Indian schools (truly horrible places) and wants to find out what happened to his sister that disappeared from one. Such a moving and profound book.
March 31, 2010
Good reminder of the horror of boarding schools for American Indians.
November 13, 2020
Absolutely brilliant. I've not been reading for a long time, it's a fairly new hobby. Really made me think about alot of things. A truly fantastic book.
March 13, 2021
A continuation of Nerburn's relationship with Dan. More wisdom for all who read this.
October 26, 2022
Second of a trilogy by Kent Nerburn. Loved this book, as I loved the first one and the third one. This author is amazing. His writing is beautiful, his choice of how to explain the Indian life and philosophy that he is learning from "Dan" the elder that wants his thoughts written in a book, are beautiful and well chosen. It's a must to read the three books in order. Hard to put down. I listened to all three books on audio and then started the three all over again. Have read parts the books because there is so much beautiful philosophy that I just wanted to absorb and underline and remember. Loved all three books....incredible story and wonderful writing. The readers chosen for the audio did a great job.
November 29, 2021
This one was better than the first! Kent Nerburn is very descriptive.
June 21, 2022
Changing this to 4 stars. The more I think about it, the more I'm disappointed with the ending. Maybe there's supposed to be some hidden message in there about adaptation but it really just felt completely disjointed from what the rest of the book established as "the Indian way. " Still enjoyed it overall though and looking forward to reading the 3rd of the trilogy.
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