Bob Birmingham traces the largely untold history of Skunk Hill or Tah-qua-kik, describing the role the community played in preserving Native culture through a harsh period of US Indian policy from the 1880s to 1930. The story's central focus is the Dream Dance, a pan-tribal cultural revitalization movement that swept the Upper Midwest during the Great Suppression, emphasizing Native values and rejecting the vices of the white world.