Piyanah is a girl born into an American Indian tribe that has lost its true heritage and become the prey of prejudice and superstition. She grows up with her cousin Raki as outsiders to the tribe, because her mother refuses to accept the restrictions of tradition. But in truth, Piyanah is the daughter of the chief, and after her mother dies, her father selects both Piyanah and Raki to become his successors and form a new tribe, free of the superstitious past. But first they must both prove themselves, and even then it is not easy for the new generation to break the ties of tradition, prejudice, and superstition which have kept the tribe trapped in its limitations.