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said loud enough to be heard over the TV.
    â€œUncle Robert!” I exclaimed, putting the TV on mute. I had forgotten what a big man he was. He had brown skin and was muscular like my dad. He even had the same single braid of long black hair down his back. He sat down next to me on the couch.
    â€œIt’s good to see you, Danny. I’m glad you came.”
    â€œI’m sure I’ll get used to it,” I said hopefully.
    â€œI know you haven’t been out here in a long time. I also know that everything is different from what you’re used to,” Robert said. “Just relax and give it chance. Things are going to work out fine.”
    He smiled. I smiled back. It felt like a part of my dad was with me now.
    â€œLet’s go and see what your grandma and Aunt Amanda have fixed for dinner.”
    As we ate, Robert told the family about his plans for the summer. He had already signed up Crow, Rabbit, and me for part-time jobs with the tribe’s summer youth program. Crow and Rabbit moaned at that news, but it sounded kind of cool to me. A summer job.
    He said we’d be working as part of a “handyman” crew fixing up the homes of elderly tribal members a few hours a day. Our afternoons would be free, with time to help out with household and barnyard chores. Even I moaned when I heard
that
news.
    â€œThe wilderness survival camp will start the end of June,” he said. “Crow and Rabbit will help me run the camp, like they’ve done for the last two summers.” The two boys proudly puffed their chests out a little. I could tell they liked the camp. Being their father’s assistants made it even better for them.
    I, on the other hand, must have been frowning as Uncle explained the camp.
    â€œNot much of a nature boy, Danny?” Crow teased. “Don’t worry. Us wild country Indians will go easy on you, you being a civilized city Indian and all.”
    â€œCrow!” Robert said sternly. “Danny is family. And he’s your guest, so act proper!” He finished the scolding in Cheyenne.
    Crow ducked his head slightly. “Yes, Dad,” he said.
    After dinner, Crow and Rabbit were definitely more friendly.
    I showed off my laptop computer to my cousins. They showed me where there was a phone jack to plug in and send e-mail from. I e-mailed my first report to Jesse back in L.A.
    I also showed them a few of the graphics tricks I could do. Now it was my country cousins’ turn to be impressed with this urban skin.
    I went to bed with a jumble of thoughts going through my head. I had reconnected with Uncle Robert. And I had discovered that digital satellite TV had made it to thereservation. Now it seemed I’d be able to survive a summer here.
    I was still worried about how I was going to fit in with the reservation routine, though. That was the last thought that went through my mind before I nodded off to sleep.

Chapter 6
The Buffalo People
    Robert made sure we were up bright and early the next morning so we could get ready to report for our first day of work.
    â€œRise and shine, you sleepyheads,” he blared. He was in way too good a mood for that time of morning. “Time to join the human race.”
    â€œIs he always this cheerful in the morning?” I asked my cousins sleepily.
    â€œYeah, Dad makes every day seem like a day at army boot camp,” Crow replied, wiping the sleep from his eyes.
    I could smell sausage and biscuits cooking in the kitchen. My brain cells began to kick into action. And so our summer routine began.
    After breakfast, Robert took us to the tribal offices where he introduced me to the head of the summer jobs program.
    Then we jumped into the back of a pickup truck filled with rakes, mowers, shovels, and hoes. We headed off to the first elder’s home in need of repair.
    Every morning we cleaned yards, mended fences, fixed walkways, painted walls, hauled off junk, and mowed lawns. The elderly