English & Literature

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

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Grover is the name of an Indian, a generation younger than Dan, who watches over his aging friend. Grover flirted by telling Wenonah she could cook his bacon anytime while she cooked Dan's breakfast. Grover offered to help with the book if Dan wanted it. He and Dan went outside to talk, and Dan told Nerburn Grover thought the way he wrote it was too white. Grover told Nerburn it sounded like "movie Indians" not "real" Indians. Grover told Nerburn to put it all in and just write like he would to describe Fatback. Grover's house trailer was placed on a rutted path on a treeless hill with an organized woodpile on the left in his yard. Two lawn chairs were evenly spaced next to his Buick that was parked nearby. Dan called him a reservation Indian who lost his culture. Grover called himself a "burr Indian" from his crew cut. Grover called Dan "Tunkashila", which meant highest respect for the old ones. Grover drove the Buick he called "Shunka Lan" on the trip across country and highway to towns, Indian shrines and Annie's.