A conflict has erupted as a mining company is in the process of tearing down Lester Beneally's hogan (ceremonial place). The tribal police (some of whom are Native Americans themselves) try to enforce the relocation papers they claim he signed before his death. Raymond (Lester's son) swears the signature is forged, and is trying to do everything in his power to stop them. When U.S. Marshals arrive to force the confrontation, Jesse Rainbird (Raymond's cousin and a tribal officer caught in the middle, torn between the law he is hired to enforce and his own heritage) tries to mediate a peaceful intervention–but instead is forced to watch his cousin gunned down by government forces. Russell wakes from a dream with a premonition that his old friend Jesse is in trouble. Only a couple hundred miles from the reservation, Russell and Claire decide to forgo their plans for a family trip to the Grand Canyon to visit Jesse and his family.
