Wishing to take a seaward journey, yet knowing that he cannot, a young Indian boy carves an Indian figure into a twelve-inch wooden canoe. The canoe contains an inscription instructing those who find it to put it back into the water, thus allowing it to find its way through the Great Lakes, down the St. Lawrence Seaway, and out into the Atlantic Ocean. The listener follows along on the canoe's four-year journey, encountering drama, action, geography, and nature along the way.