Who is Annie from Neither Wolf nor Dog: On Forgotten Roads with an Indian Elder and what is their importance?

Annie is the name of Dan's sister who was the old woman standing in the yard as they drove down the hill. She seemed as old as Dan and was a hospitable woman who stood there smiling with white-hair and heavy-breasted. Grover introduced her as Annie as she walked back to the house that was not much bigger than a chicken coop with an outhouse near a clump of trees. Annie motioned Nerburn in and asked in English if he wanted to eat. She fed him meatball stew and told him to sleep on the bed in the yard. In the morning, Annie gave him a cup of drinkable water and prayed with a rosary, which surprised Nerburn that she was Catholic. She showed him a picture of fifty boys and girls with a priest and pointed out Dan and herself. Annie's husband was confined to a wheelchair and called Grandpa by Danelle's children. He laughed and spoke Lakota with Dan in the back room.