Alonqua, a Lenape boy of the early 1800's, an orphan, is sent by Mawenteh, his elderly guardian, on a journey to a sacred waterfall. This is Mawenteh's last request, for that very night he will die. The journey takes Alonqua from the heart of a beaver lodge to the heart of a great storm, from the release of a snared otter to a bond with a mother eagle. And ultimately to an understanding of the White Man who will come to warn his village of impending destruction. Unknown to Alonqua at the beginning, the journey is a vision quest. What he learns on the way is his Spirit Name and the courage to do what is true and right for himself, for his people, and for the sacred earth.