The balance of power in Maritole's marriage falls firmly with her. Cherokee society is largely matriarchal. For example, in order to farm on any agricultural land, a man must be married to a woman whose family has passed land down to her through the generations. Such is the way in which Knowbowtie, Maritole's husband, has come to be able to farm on her family's land. He came into the marriage with nothing but his musket, his prized possession, and should something happen to separate husband and wife, this is exactly what he would leave with as well. This is the backdrop for the ups and downs of their relationship, which is tempestuous sometimes, and definitely not made any easier by the coming of the white settlers, who force the Native American inhabitants of the land onto the trail, moving them across the country from North Carolina to Oklahoma, by force.
We meet Maritole and Knowbowtie as the Cherokee are being ousted from their lands. Maritole must take her family to the stockade, which is particularly hard for her. She feels strongly that her grandmother's spirit still roams the lands that she inherited, so being removed from her ancestral lands feels not only like a forcible relocation but the loss of her heritage and her family's identity as well.
Maritole is permitted to return to her cabin after removal. She has a mental list of what her family might need along the trail, and Knowbowtie asks her to bring his musket too, along with a few trinkets that have meaning to him. Unfortunately, when Maritole arrives at the cabin, she is incensed to see that the white settlers have already taken up residence, and are using her belongings as if they were their own; her anger blinds her to the task she came to perform, and she cannot remember most of the things that she had intended to bring from the home. There is a soldier present whilst she collects her things; Williams is a genial, kind man, without whom she probably would have left the cabin with nothing but her anger. He reminds her that she will need pots and pans, as well as her blankets. She completely forgets about Knowbowtie's possessions, including his prized musket, essentially leaving him with nothing.
Maritole did not leave the musket and the rest of his things behind on purpose; her anger made her forget what she had come for, but Knowbowtie reacts as though this was a deliberate snub. He feels emasculated by the loss of his musket. Without it, he can no longer protect, or provide for, his family along the Trail. He is angry and ashamed, and also filled with embarrassment. He abandons her, and walks with his mother and his sister instead of walking with her. His feels even more betrayed by his wife as he sees that Williams is taking rather an interest in her; the soldier is in the same boat as Maritole since his wife has left him and taken their daughter with her. He is lonely, and in Maritole he finds someone pleasant and beautiful in whom he begins to find the companionship he craves. He is kind to her, and gives her additional food and clothes. Knowbowtie has abandoned his wife, but does not want her to find someone else. His anger increases and he distances himself even more from Maritole, eventually giving in to his jealousy and attacking Williams. Williams is removed from his duties by the army, but the damage is done, and Maritole and Knowbowtie's marriage deteriorates even further. He also keeps his distance from her family; he feels simply too ashamed to face them.
One of the many differences between the white settlers and the Cherokee is the way in which they prepare food. Maritole cooks with corn, as her ancestors have always done. Along the trail, the women are given the food of the white man, white flour and salt pork. Maritole doesn't know how to cook these ingredients and consequently none of the food they are eating tastes particularly appetizing. Knowbowtie does not understand ingredients and flavorings; he just understands that women are supposed to cook a meal that tastes good. He derides her abilities as a cook and as a woman. He also compares her negatively to his first wife, whom he declares is a much better cook. By doing this he is attempting to make himself feel more of a man, but it doesn't work. His behaviour merely makes matters worse.
Religion is a large part of the Cherokee way, and is something that Maritole wants to cling to as a connection to her ancestors. She wants to keep her old ways, and also to try to understand and broaden her spiritual horizons to accept that which is new as well. Maritole and Knowbowtie choose to view the Trail of Tears as teaching from The Great Spirit, and interpret their situation as a warning from him to become properly acquainted with God. The white men declared the Cherokee to be outside of God's word, and that in order to put this right they would have to accept the Word of Christ. Both Maritiole and Knowbowtie find a way to incorporate Christianity with their Native American spirituality, but it is not easy, and Maritole continues to be convinced that the old spirits are in mourning for the changing of the ways.
After a grueling and hazardous trail, the Cherokee arrive in Oklahoma, their new land. Maritole's child and parents died along the trail, and the only person she has left is her brother, but he has his own family to take care of now, and cannot be the permanent rock that Maritole needs in her life. Starting afresh in a new land inspires Maritole and Knowbowtie to start afresh in their relationship with each other as well. They bring two orphans into the family, who lost their parents along the trail, and they raise them as their own children. Knowbowtie tells Maritole that her father would want them to re-commit to their marriage, and that he actually appeared in a dream asking Knowbowtie to take good care of his daughter. Maritole and Knowbowtie rise from the ashes of their former life and start a life anew, like the Cherokee legend of the phoenix, reflecting the new start that the Cherokee Nation is making as a whole on the plains of Oklahoma.
