Who is Dan from Neither Wolf nor Dog: On Forgotten Roads with an Indian Elder and what is their importance?

Dan is the old Indian elder who represents communal knowledge, history and understanding of the Lakota Indians. He is the subject of this book and narrates his story, thoughts, ideas and feelings to Kent Nerburn. Dan is a rough-hewn, elemental man who is earthy, but who has a deep spirituality for those who can see it. He got Nerburn's name from "Red Road" books that the author wrote about Indian history years earlier. He is presented by his granddaughter Wenonah as the grandfather who didn't like to talk on the phone. Nerburn drove to the reservation to meet him. Dan had initial confidence in Nerburn because "he didn't try to be an Indian". Dan determined Nerburn liked Indian people from his books but asked whether he liked white people too. Dan entrusted Nerburn with a box of papers, writings and clippings he had collected over years for the author to read and edit for the book he wanted help to write. Nerburn read some pages and wrote Dan had "a level of insight that was as deep and clear as a mountain lake". Dan wanted Nerburn to write for him so he didn't sound like an old Indian talking but to "make it sound like I graduated from Haskell".