All brave journeys begin at sunrise, Old-Man-Guards-the-Pipe has always told his young friend, Red Hawk. So it is that at dawn Red Hawk goes to the mountains to pray and to learn from Man-Above what he must do to become a warrior. The word comes to him, and Red Hawk proves his manhood by taking from an enemy tribe an extraordinary white stallion; it becomes his gift to the old man who had loved and guided him from childhood. The gift precipitates the grave events that turn Red hawk"s people against him and lead to another journey, this time by tree outcasts.