As Elissa Washuta makes the transition from college kid to independent adult, she finds herself overwhelmed by the calamities piling up in her brain. When her mood-stabilizing medications aren't threatening her life, they're shoving her from depression to mania and back in the space of an hour. Her crisis of American Indian identity bleeds into other areas of self-doubt; mental illness, sexual trauma, ethnic identity, and independence become intertwined....

Profiles Native Americans who had significant impact on the histories of their own nations, and in the history of the United States and Canada, through their roles as interpreters, guides, warriors, and peacemakers.