Wilson Sam is a medicine man who is teaching Jim Chee the ways of a healer. Both Officer Chee and Lieutenant Leaphorn fear for his safety when medicine men start turning up dead.

Actor Saginaw Grant is a respected member of the Sac-n-Fox, Iowa, and Otoe-Missouri Nation. During his traditional Native upbringing on a farm in Cushing, Oklahoma, Grant was influenced by his two grandfathers, who taught him their customs, culture, and traditions. Today, Grant carries on this legacy through his work as an actor, lecturer, and writer. He has starred in the feature films Dreamer, Devil's Cove, Grey Owl, Small Time, and War Party. His television credits include a regular role on Harts of the West and guest-starring roles on the series Picket Fences; Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman; Baywatch; Nash Bridges; and The Indiana Jones Chronicles. He currently lives in southern California, where he is called upon for counseling, lectures, and family events while pursuing his acting career.

In Hillerman's words:
Wilson Sam, born to the One Walks Around Clan, and born for the Turning Mountain People... was fifty-seven, herder of sheep who sometimes worked on Arizona Highway Department crews.

Skinwalkers, Chapter 2