Neither Wolf Nor Dog

The group drives through a foreboding storm. When the wind and rain suddenly stop, Grover pulls over and Dan begins chanting in Lakota. The storm picks up again and the car is buffeted by ferocious wind and rain. Nerburn is terrified. When it finally passes, Dan and Grover have a private, contentious debate in Lakota. Dan asks Nerburn what direction the wind came from. When Nerburn confirms it came from the North, Dan leaves the car with Fatback. Grover explains that the North wind brings messages from the dead.

As the trio continues into the Badlands, Grover describes how families—including babies and elders—fled through the Badlands in the middle of winter to seek shelter with Chief Spotted Elk after Sitting Bull’s death. Dan describes the land as heavy with the dead, and says that indigenous families across the country have suffered in similar ways. The soldiers sent by the federal government to control indigenous populations were largely young, single men who were unemployable elsewhere. The indigenous people they encountered and ordered to move were families with vulnerable babies and elders. He describes the violence the federal soldiers enacted on these families, including rape and mutilation of corpses.

Nerburn feels an emotional distance between himself and Dan even though they’re only sitting a few inches apart. Isolated, he watches the Badlands disappear as the wide plains open to the Black Hills. Nerburn remembers visiting the national park at Mt. Rushmore as a child with his family. Now, he knows that the Black Hills (known as Paha Sapa in Lakota) are the sacred center of the Lakota universe. He feels as if the car is being pulled towards the hills.

Nerburn imagines that Dan has given him a new set of eyes for looking at the hills. He sees Sitting Bull’s people fleeing from the federal government, and hears women calling to each other to keep their children safe. He visualizes in explicit detail the violence Dan described earlier. As he looks at the Black Hills, he understands why the Lakota sacrificed the rest of their lands to keep the hills. He feels shame at the government’s decision to renege on their treaties when gold was discovered. Nerburn takes personal accountability for the greed and violence of the federal government on behalf of his white ancestors, and asks the Earth for answers.

In the middle of the night, Dan suddenly demands to get out of the car, and orders Nerburn out with him. Grover hands Nerburn his bag and a bag for Dan, then drives away. Dan begins climbing a nearby hill and Nerburn follows. The men climb past a series of pillars with empty alcoves and enter a large cemetery. Dan reveals that they are at the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre, and are standing on the mass grave of at least 200 Lakota men, women, and children. He removes a ceremonial pipe from his bag and sends an offering of smoke to the four cardinal directions, to the sky, and to the earth. He then tells Nerburn to do the same. Nerburn senses a heavy spiritual presence at the grave site and sees visions of his son being shot by a soldier. Unsure of how to pray or whether he’s violating something sacred, Nerburn follows Dan’s lead and sends smoke offerings. Dan tells Nerburn to sleep. Nerburn dreams of two hawks fighting before being overshadowed by a third, more beautiful hawk. When he tells Dan about the dream the next morning, Dan declares that Nerburn is ready to write the book.

The drive back to Dan and Grover’s reservation takes two days, and the group makes no unnecessary detours. Grover attempts to convince Dan to stop at Mt. Rushmore, but Dan threatens to die in the parking lot. As they approach the reservation, Dan and Grover spot a buffalo in the distance. The buffalo is revealed to be Nerburn’s truck as the haze clears. Desperate to return to his family, Nerburn begs Grover to follow the truck. Grover insists that Dan needs to eat, and tells Nerburn they’ll get the truck later.

Grover and Dan take Nerburn to a restaurant with a large CLOSED sign on the door. Inside, they find Jumbo, who tells Nerburn that his car is ready to go. The problem was not a gasket, as Nerburn feared, but a hose that had a small slit cut into it. Nerburn accuses Dan and Grover of damaging his car to keep him on the reservation. Dan attributes it to the Great Spirit. As Nerburn prepares to leave, Dan gives him a necklace with a small stone carved into the shape of an eagle. Nerburn promises to do a good job with the book, and to send Dan drafts. Dan and Grover drive away, leaving Nerburn alone.