Frank is a 16-year-old Ojibway boy who lives with Bunky, an old white man who has raised Frank from infancy. Frank has learned the ways of his ancestors and is an accomplished hunter who can survive alone in the wilderness. He attempted school but is more content to learn the wisdom of the natural world around him. Bunky instills within Frank a stern morality founded on the ideal of honesty and on the practice of respect for nature. Frank never knew his mother, and this absence pains him. Frank’s father, Eldon, is an alcoholic who has behaved irresponsibly toward Frank. Nevertheless, Frank agrees to help Eldon die in the traditional Ojibway warrior manner. During Frank and Eldon’s journey into the wilderness to find a final resting place, Frank gets to know his father, gains sympathy and confidence, and learns to forgive.

Eldon, a tragic figure, represents the ways in which economic hardship and alcoholism ruin the lives of some Indigenous people. Alcoholism rates are high on Indigenous reservations, and Eldon is “screwed by circumstance” (86). He begins well and works hard, although few economic opportunities are available, and he is at first forced to scavenge to help his mother survive after his father is killed in World War II.