The protagonist of this tale is Robert Hawks, a black man and a hydrologist by profession, who has deliberately gone into the wilderness north of Denver to lose himself for a while--and to find himself too. Seeking to break up with his girlfriend, he goes fishing in the wilds. He catches more than he bargained for when he becomes involved with an Indian woman of the Plata tribe and learns firsthand of their dispute with the federal government, a dispute of mysterious importance to the Feds. When two F.B.I. agents are murdered, Hawks finds himself in a compromised position. He learns again what it means to be black and identifies with the tribe's fight for its rights.