Danny is in his forties when, at the instruction of his boss who owns the trucking company for which Danny works, he first attends therapy in 1988. His wife and daughter have recently died in a car accident yet, according to his boss, Danny appears emotionally unaffected.

During the first series of sessions, Danny is polite but remains silent. Danny is a member of the Cree nation and so, unsure how to help Danny, Gildiner searches for First Nation psychologists. She finally finds such a psychologist who shares some papers with her; through these resources, Gildiner learns about the Indigenous belief of not interfering, surmising that Danny likely views therapy as a rude invasion of his personal psyche. Gildiner admits to Danny that she is having difficulty helping him and he professes not to need help. He continues to attend the sessions but speaks very rarely.

Over the course of the first year, Gildiner is able to gather details about Danny’s childhood. Danny’s family were trappers in northernmost Canada who sold furs; Danny would feed the sled dogs and travel with his father to trading posts to sell the furs. A key moment in his childhood occurred when his sister lost the use of her leg after catching it in an unseen trap.