Following a bloody confrontation between her clan and that of the "men of the land of ice", Maïna, daughter of the great Innu chief Mishtenapuu, finds herself unwillingly entrusted with a mission that will change her life. To respect a promise made to her friend Matsii on her deathbed, she is on the trail of her enemies to free Nipki, the latter's son, an 11-year-old boy whom the Inuit have captured. Taken prisoner in turn by Natak, the leader of the Inuit clan, she will be taken against her will to the frozen desert, where she will be confronted with customs very different from her own.