Antelope Wife and The Sacred Hoop

A large portion of the second part of Antelope Wife is written from the perspective of a dog.  This is an interesting point of view one doesn't typically receive in reading a novel consisting of stories, most of which have been from humans.  This second part, however, pairs nicely with the reading of The Sacred Hoop.  The Sacred Hoops speaks upon the American Indian religion and how everything is connected; "...nor does it draw a hard and fast lie between what is material and what is spiritual, for it regards the two as different expressions of the same reality" (246).  For American Indians, everything is connected and related.  We are as close to our sisters and brothers as we are to a local street dog or even the rock we sit upon to eat our lunch.  Everything and everyone was created under the same magical power and no one person or object is above the other.  This idea allows one to read a narrative given from a dogs perspective with much less scrutiny.  If we can read stories told by people, why not hear the story of a dog from the dog itself.