Mourning the loss of his loved one, Jerico Whitehorse, a young Native American leaves the reservation to cry for a vision. He soon finds himself in a life and death struggle with the eternal enemy of his people. His vision informs him that he must experience the seven sacred rites of the Lakota to gather the strength he needs to defeat the Wasichu. As he fulfills his vision he embarks on a journey that summons the four hundred year history of the conflict between the indigenous tribes of North America and the European invaders. He walks with the Cherokee on the Trail of Tears. He engages the Apache followers of Geronimo. He bears witness at the Sand Creek Massacre. He rides with his fellow warriors at Little Big Horn. He leads the Ghost Dancers at Wounded Knee. Wounded and dying in a North Dakota hospital, he visits the overworld and discovers the essential truth: He carries the soul of the most famous of all Lakota leaders. He is Crazy Horse. That is why the killing spirit must defeat him above all others. The Wasichu takes many forms from the Black Robes who attempted to steal Indian souls and initiated genocide with diseased blankets, from the preacher turned soldier Colonel John Chivington who led his Colorado volunteers to the slaughter of peaceful Cheyenne at Sand Creek, from General George Armstrong Custer who led the massacre at the Washita River before meeting his destiny at Little Big Horn, from Columbus and Hernando Cortez to the more contemporary killers of native peoples: Johnson, Nixon and Kissinger. It all comes to a head at Wounded Knee, where the Wasichu strikes a mortal blow to Jerico's grandfather. He completes the seven rites with the keeping and the releasing of the soul.