Who is Jake West from The Dark Wind and what is their importance?

Jake West owns and operates the Burnt Water Trading Post. He has been operating the trading post for twenty years and has a good reputation among his Navajo and Hopi customers. Once married to a Hopi woman, the local Hopis consider West to be a "powaqa", or "two-heart—a person with the soul of an animal as well as a human. Jake West once worked professional magician, a talent that often serves to entertain his customers.