Raised in a remote seaside village, Thomas Witka Just marries Ruth, his
beloved since infancy. But an ill-fated decision to fight in Vietnam
changes his life forever: cut off from his Native American community, he
fathers a child with another woman. When he returns home a hero, he
finds his tribe in conflict over the decision to hunt a whale, both a
symbol of spirituality and rebirth and a means of survival. In the end,
he reconciles his two existences, only to see tragedy befall the son he
left behind.