Wind River Reservation, Arapahos have gathered for the Ethete powwow. It is a sacred time to reaffirm the balance and harmony in life. But these feelings of unity quickly give way to fear when tribal chairman Harvey Castle is found murdered--and every bit of evidence points to his nephew, Anthony.

There are two people who don't believe the young man capable of murder: Father John O'Malley, history scholar and pastor of St. Francis Mission, and Vicky Holden, an attorney who has recently returned to the reservation to help her people. Their investigation draws Father John and Vicky across the high plains of the Wind River Reservation--from the intimate Arapaho community centers to a byzantine world of incalculable corruption and finally into the past. It is here, in the "Old Time," where Father John catches a rare glimpse into the Arapaho life few outsiders ever see--and a crime fewer could imagine.