The legend of a lost gold mine and a river in the Northwest Territories that lures men to their doom. Albert Faille, an aging prospector, has set out time and again to find hidden gold. His route takes him through a wild and awesome land particularly suited to the mood of this Canadian odyssey.

On Canada's Pacific coast this film finds a young Haida artist, Robert Davidson, shaping miniature totems from argillite, a jet-like stone. The film follows the artist to the island where he finds the stone, and then shows how he carves it in the manner of his grandfather, who taught him the craft.