Young Tobias is on a quest with his father, David Moses Bridges, the tribe’s master canoe maker. Together they go deep into the Maine woods to find the perfect birch and to gather spruce roots, cedar, and spruce gum to build a canoe in the “old ways.” In this magical tale, David weaves Native American storytelling into the ancient art and spirituality of canoe making, including the heart-rending mythological legend of the partridge, the first canoe maker.