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I wasn’t surprised to see José acting hard around Kocher. Nor was I surprised that meeting José for the first time caused Kocher to question my sanity. He turned slightly to me with each of José’s off-key eruptions, his expression at once amused and concerned.

I gazed out the window, taking in the yellow prairie of the western lakes region. I couldn’t help but think with some regret about missing out on the Minnesota River, which paralleled our course some 50 miles south, beyond the rolling horizon.

When searching for a meaningful starting point, I had placed a phone call to Kevin Jensvold, the chairman of the Upper Sioux Community, whose tiny reservation sits along the Minnesota River, some 250 miles upstream from Saint Paul. I asked if he’d be willing to meet with José before our departure from Upper Sioux. I knew how much it would mean to José to have a tribal chairman pat him on the back as he boarded a canoe for the first time. Recognition and acceptance from men in the Native community was particularly important to him.