Generations after the first migration, hunters prosper on the North American plains while mammoths, giant sloths and other great animals become increasingly scarce. Drought and ecological change threaten the old seasonal pattern, forcing Little Dancer, White Calf and Two Smokes to reconsider how their people hunt, travel and understand the spirit world.
As rival groups compete for diminishing resources, personal loyalties and inherited traditions are tested. The novel links survival to adaptation, showing a society that must change its relationship with animals and land before environmental crisis turns conflict into destruction.