Estranged from his Mi'kmaw First Nation homeland, Peter Joe is living in Montreal when he receives a confused and desperate call from the once-beloved godfather he hasn't seen or heard from in nearly 20 years. "There's something you must know! You must come right away!" he hears. Peter returns to Newfoundland and the remote reserve of his past where he finds his godfather near death with a mysterious illness decimating his people. When his godfather dies, Peter must find out why before the remainder of his people vanish. His search leads him to a deadly curse, a gold mine surrounded by a web of deceit and corruption, an insidious toxin that once killed hundreds of Japanese before anyone knew what it was, and a family secret that will change his life forever.