The novel begins in Oklahoma in the summer of 1922. Many people have moved their beds outside to escape the stifling heat of their houses. Belle Graycloud, the matriarch of her family, rises early in the morning and scares a chicken away from her bed. Nearby, Grace and Nola Blanket are also waking up. Grace used to be part of a community that calls itself the “Hill Indians.” The “Hill Indians” moved away from the rapidly modernizing world some 60 years ago, although Grace’s mother, Lila, sent Grace to live in Watona after receiving a prediction that a white woman would upend the community’s sense of peace and prosperity. She wanted a pair of eyes and ears in town, particularly to keep an eye on a proposed dam that would impact the local (and beloved) Blue River, so she sent Grace away. Never having been particularly interested in her culture or history, Grace took to life in Watona. She grew up, got a job, bought land, and rented her pastures to cattlemen.

The rest of the community has remained in the hills. Each Indigenous person in the area was able to move onto a 160-acre allotment of land after the passage of the Dawes Act, and although this initially seemed like a boon for the tribe, people soon realized how worthless these parcels were.