Young Jesses drugs and petty crimes force his mother to take him out of the city and back to their ranch in the desert where his father has lived and worked alone after they separated years before. To end their struggle with poverty, she puts the mineral rights in the land up for sale. A spirit arises from the earth to capture Jesse and turn him around until he changes and joins with his father to protect of the land against exploitation by oil and mining interests. This fictional story was inspired by the struggle over many decades by the Hopi and Dineh peoples against exploitation of Black Mesa in Arizona for coal, oil, and uranium. Their problem is not unique, but typical of what is happening to the lands of many indigenous peoples around the world.