The Mi'kmaq arrive at their spring hunting grounds in the Musquodobuit area of Nova Scotia in the 1400's. There is much work to be done to fix the camp and prepare it to be lived in after the winter. It is also the year for Amsquesewa'j to be married; Her suitor, Ketkwi'te'w, must prove himself to her family.
At the summer encampment, it is the women's job to set up the camp with the children and forage for food, while the men go on a hunting party to fish salmon.
Ketkwi'te'w's parents arrive by canoe to the summer encampment for his wedding to Amsquesewa'j, where A'tukwete'w approves the marriage. Ketkwi'te'w and Amsquesewa'j are married in a traditional ceremony, and afterwards leave the family to start their own life together.
Ketkwi'te'w and Amsquesewa'j visit Ketkwi'te'w's uncles' eel weir on the river. They try and make Amsquesewa'j forget her loneliness from leaving her family, while she starts hew new life as Ketkwi'te'w's wife. Kiunik sprains his ankle during a canoe drive down the river, and Amsquesewa'j proves herself as a good wife by treating his injury.
The rivers and lakes have frozen over and it is time to move inland to the winter encampment. The Mi'kmaq manage to kill a moose to provide food for the winter.