Tafia is struck by the lyrics of a song about an indian cowboy. She feels like the Indian cowboy--caught between two worlds. But when she leaves Spirit Bay with her best friend Mavis and her Aunt Lily to attend her first Pow-wow, Tifia begins to understand what being an indian really means to her. The novel reveals the life of an 11 year old Ojibway girl and her family, living on a Reserve near Thunder Bay, Ontario, as she learns to balance traditional values with mainstream cultural values.