Voyageurs discover a baby girl as the sole survivor of a smallpox outbreak on Spirit Island and abandon her there.

Omakayas and Nokomis strip bark from a birch tree, and the women of the family build their summer birchbark house.

Omakayas encounters a mother bear with her cubs while picking berries and escapes unharmed by speaking respectfully to the bear.

Omakayas secretly rescues an injured crow from the cornfield trap and hides it in her carrying sack.

Deydey returns home from his fur-trading journey and distributes gifts to each member of the family.

Deydey, Fishtail, and LaPautre discuss white settlers encroaching on Anishinabe land and a possible forced move west.

The family moves from the birchbark house into the winter cabin, and Nokomis prays for protection from disease and hunger.

A pale, gravely ill visitor arrives during the annual village dance and is taken in by a local family.

The sick visitor dies of smallpox overnight, and the disease spreads through the village, striking Omakayas's family one by one.

Baby Neewo dies of smallpox in Omakayas's arms.

Fishtail attempts suicide after learning his wife Ten Snow has died of smallpox.

Nokomis dreams that the deer One Horn is waiting for Deydey, who hunts and kills the buck, saving the family from starvation.

Omakayas asks the bears at the sugaring camp to share their medicine with her and begins hearing the voices of plants.

Hot maple syrup burns Pinch's feet, and Omakayas treats his wounds so effectively that Nokomis declares her a natural healer.

Old Tallow reveals that Omakayas was the Spirit Island baby, rescued by Tallow herself and given to her adoptive family.

The story begins with a baby girl abandoned on Spirit Island after a smallpox outbreak wipes out her entire village. Omakayas grows up without knowing this secret, living with her adoptive family through a summer that includes a mysterious encounter with a bear family and the rescue of a pet crow named Andeg. When a dying smallpox-infected stranger enters the annual winter dance, he sets off an outbreak that kills baby Neewo and nearly destroys the family. Omakayas nurses her family through the crisis, and only a providential deer hunt guided by Nokomis's dream saves the survivors from starvation. In spring, Omakayas discovers a gift for healing, and Old Tallow finally reveals the truth: Omakayas was the Spirit Island baby, immune to smallpox because she had already survived it as an infant.

Omakayas's year from birchbark house to smallpox survival and healing gift.

White-throated sparrows sing over devastated Spirit Island as the traders paddle away from the abandoned baby.

Mama sends Omakayas to retrieve scissors from Old Tallow, sparing the girl from her moose-hide scraping duty.

Old Tallow treats Omakayas with unusual warmth, giving her both the scissors and a treat of maple sugar.

Omakayas secretly unswaddles baby Neewo and takes him to play freely by the lake, forming a deep bond with him.

Omakayas wakes in the night to find Deydey's moccasins resting beside Mama's by the door, signaling his safe return.

Deydey entertains the family with a ghost story about outwitting two cannibal spirits during a violent storm on the water.

Pinch eats the berries he was supposed to guard and blames Andeg, causing Mama to throw a stick at the crow.

Andeg startles the whole family during the canoe trip to the rice harvest by shouting 'Gaygo, Pinch!'

Angeline and Omakayas discover Fishtail leaving the mission school carrying books, learning chimookoman writing to guard against treaty fraud.

With only women present at their sewing, Nokomis tells an intimate personal story about her grandmother's ghost rising from the lake.

Ten Snow gives Omakayas a small sewing kit, inspiring the girl to make a pair of moccasins for baby Neewo.

Omakayas knocks Deydey unconscious with a club to stop his feverish escape attempt from the smallpox-stricken cabin.

Angeline smashes her mirror after smallpox scars her face and resolves to attend school to learn to write.

Old Tallow's yellow dog attacks Omakayas in the woods, and Old Tallow immediately kills the dog to protect her.

Andeg flies away from home and joins a flock of wild crows in the spring, leaving Omakayas to grieve his absence.

Running alongside the main plot, a rich tapestry of smaller events reveals the warmth and complexity of Omakayas's family and community. Through everyday moments — secretly freeing Neewo from his swaddling, spotting Deydey's moccasins by the door, and watching the clever crow Andeg learn to speak — the bonds between family members quietly deepen. The fall brings an unsettling discovery when Fishtail is found at the mission school, learning to read so that white settlers cannot cheat his people through treaties. The winter's grief plays out in personal acts of courage, as Omakayas knocks her feverish father unconscious to save his life and Angeline smashes her mirror to accept her smallpox-scarred face. By spring, even the departure of Andeg — who flies away to join his own kind — carries a quiet lesson about accepting the natural order of things.

The small moments and side stories that enrich Omakayas's world.

One of the voyageurs reflects that his fearless wife Tallow would never have abandoned the baby on Spirit Island.

Omakayas scrapes the moose hide with exceptional care after her bear encounter, earning her family's high praise and a promise of special moccasins.

Two Strike Girl defies gender roles by dancing the rice at the harvest and pulls Omakayas in to join her.

While moving to the winter cabin, Nokomis solemnly tells Omakayas to listen to what the bear cubs say, advice the girl never forgets.

Omakayas feels an intense, unrelenting cold on the family's first night settled into the winter cabin.

Omakayas realizes that Old Tallow watches her with genuine deep affection and would give her life to keep the girl safe.

Omakayas chooses to enter the disease-filled cabin to face death alongside her sick family rather than remain safe outside.

Nokomis collapses from exhaustion during the smallpox outbreak, leaving Omakayas to tend the entire stricken family on her own.

Omakayas sinks into deep depression after Neewo's death, stops eating, and can find no comfort in anything around her.

Old Tallow visits the grieving Omakayas, forces her to eat stew, and insists the girl go outside into the sunshine.

Deydey tricks the local trader at chess, pretending to play poorly before winning a large store of food for the starving family.

After fasting and placing charcoal on her face, Omakayas dreams of a bear spirit woman who promises to love and help her.

The first taste of maple syrup at the sugaring camp floods Omakayas with grief for Neewo, and she runs alone into the woods.

After learning her true origins, Omakayas recalls that the white-throated sparrows kept her alive on Spirit Island with their song.

Omakayas rests in the spring grass and hears Neewo's voice speaking comfort and peace to her through the sparrows' song.

From the prologue's quiet hint that Tallow would have saved the abandoned baby, a thread of fate and personal growth runs through the entire story. Omakayas begins finding her identity through small pivots — earning unexpected praise after her bear encounter, watching Two Strike Girl challenge gender norms at the rice harvest, and receiving Nokomis's solemn instruction to listen to the bears. The winter crisis forces her deepest transformation: she chooses to enter the disease-filled cabin, nurses her family alone after Nokomis collapses, and then must fight her way out of a grief-stricken depression. Her spiritual awakening emerges through a bear-spirit dream and a courageous healing of her brother's wounds. The story closes with Omakayas lying in the spring grass, hearing Neewo's reassuring voice in the birdsong, her broken heart finally at peace.