eighteenth centuries. Now they live on approximately 3,000 acres of communal property near Tama, Iowa, surrounded by white middle-class farmers. Wolf That I Am is the story of a young white academic’s encounter with the Mesquakies whom he got to know while collecting folklore for his dissertation. Fred McTaggart had expected to find a dying oral culture. Instead, he found a thriving way of life based on families and clans, linking the present-day Mesquakie Indians with previous generations, including ancestors who lived before the world was created in its present form. This encounter with a people who live ideas instead of thinking them inspired McTaggart to unlock secrets within himself.

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