Colorado, 1864. After surviving the horrific Sand Creek Massacre, young Star is taken to Fort Marion Prison Castle. There, he is stripped of his language and culture by evangelical prison guard Richard Henry Prattwho would later found the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, a place designed to erase Native identity in the name of assimilation. Years later, Stars son Charles is sent to that very school, where he endures brutal treatment under the same man who once imprisoned his father. Amid the violence, Charles forms a fragile connection with a fellow student, Opal Viola, and together they dream of a life beyond the relentless legacy of colonial trauma.

Oakland, 2018. Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield is fighting to keep her family together in the aftermath of a mass shooting that nearly killed her nephew Orvil. As Orvil recovers physically, he spirals emotionallyobsessively watching footage of school shootings online and becoming dependent on painkillers. His younger brother, Lony, haunted by the trauma, secretly performs blood rituals, seeking connection with his Cheyenne ancestry. Meanwhile, Opal turns to Ceremony and peyote in a desperate search for healing and spiritual guidance.