White Man's Dog is a young man who belongs to the Pikunis, one of three tribes belonging to the Blackfeet Indians. Their band is known as the Lone Eaters. At the start of the story, White Man's Dog is an unhappy 18-year-old who is often teased by the other youth for never having had a girl. He is a head shorter than Fast Horse who is a year younger than him and is tormented with wrong feelings toward his father's third wife who is one year younger. He feels doomed because without wealth, in his view, no girl will look at him.