The novel begins with the main character, True Son, a white boy raised in an Indian tribe, being taken away from his adoptive family. True Son was born believing that the white men were evil and thus when he found out that he was going to be taken away and forced to live with the people he was taught to hate, he did everything he could to stop them from taking him: he painted his face to look less white and more like the true Indians and he his himself in a tree.
Despite his protests, True Son is taken to a camp populated by whites and let there by his father. There, Cuyloga tells his adopted son to continue behaving like and Indian to bring honor to their tribe after which he leaves. True Son is watched by a guard named Dell and True Son woes to kill him once his hand will be untied.
Meanwhile, Dell thinks about their captain, Bouquet. Dell respects his captain even though he is sometimes harsh. In comparison with other captains, Bouquet ordered his men to never attack an Indian unless that person attacks first. While many soldiers had relatives or acquaintances killed by Indians, they all respect Bouquet’s orders. Bouquet was brave enough to venture into the land owned by the Indians to take back some of the white captives that were adopted into Indian families. While it was commonly believed that the Indians will never give up their captives, Dell soon learned that they would rather give up the people they adopted into their families rather than giving up their lands.
After three days, the soldiers were told that they would be returning to Pennsylvania with the recovered children. After hearing this, True Son decided to find a way to commit suicide, thinking that he would rather die on Indian soil than to be taken into enemy territory. Dell prevents True Son from poisoning himself and True Son vows to kill himself on the way back.
Once the soldiers start marching again with the prisoners, True Son sees his cousin Half Arrow following him from the bushes. True Son finds that another Indian, Little Crane, also follows the white group because his wife was taken from him as well. Half Arrow also gives True Son some gifts his family sends him: corn, a bearskin to keep him warm and a pair of shoes from his mother.
It is decided that Half Arrow and Little Crane must leave the next day and return to their Indian tribe and True Son assures them that he will be ok. That night, they talk about the white men and why they are different from the Indians. The whites seem to ignore the nature around them and be more interested in financial gain than their own good.
That night, they meet another Indian who tells them where they are and the next day they find that the Indian was killed by the soldiers. Dell tells True Son that he must say goodbye to his friends and when he tries to push Half Arrow away with his rifle, True Son tries to grab the rifle away from Dell. True Son is unsuccessful however and is tied again by Dell. Before departing from his cousin, Little Arrow tells True Son that his father wants him to be brave, have patience and strike when the time is right. After that, True Son is forced to cross a river and is separated from his cousin and the lands he knew.
When True Son sees for the first time the places where the whites live, he is disgusted to see how the trees have been cut down and how they were replaced by stone homes instead. The children taken from the Indians tribes are taken on a platform to be examined for birthmarks that could help the parents identify them. True Son’s father comes as well and True Son is disappointed to see how unimportant his biological father looks. True Son refuses to acknowledge the white man as being his father and so it is decided that Dell will go with True Son to protect his white family from possible violent outburst.
Before they reached True Son’s real home, he tries one more time to run away but is caught by Dell and brought back to his father, Mr. Butler. Harry Butler tells True Son that he has a brother named Geordie that he never got the chance to meet. At first, True Son refuses to go into the house but after seeing his younger brother going in without being afraid, he goes too. Upstairs, he finds his mother, Myra Butler, who tells him that his real name is John Cameron Butler but True Son refuses to answer to that name. Myra also announces True Son that some of his relatives will come the next day to see him before handling him some fresh clothes to change into.
Geordie takes True Son into their room but True Son refuses to change his clothes, seeing the clothes he was offered as being just another way to suffocate and imprison him. That night, True Son sleeps in the same room as Dell but is unable to fall asleep on the bed. After a few hours, True Son gets out of his bed and sleeps on the floor, covered in the bearskin his Indian father gifted him.
The next day, True Son is forced to change into more English-looking clothes and meet two of his uncles, George Owens and Wilse. Uncle Wilse is one of the Paxton leaders who killed a group of Indians in a white settlement. When True Son comforts him about what happened, uncle Wilse claims that the got what they deserved. After Uncle Wilse slaps True Son for his words, the boy decides to remain silent for the rest of the day.
After a few days, Dell leaves and True Son is left alone with his white family. His aunt Kate takes one night all his Indian clothes and so from that point on he is forced to wear the clothes his family provided him with. While True Son was happy to see Dell leave, it also meant that he had no one to speak to since he knew little English and his white family could not understand the Indian language.
Slowly, the Butler family tried to integrate True Son into the new society and to make him feel more comfortable with his new way of life. True Son was made to attend school to learn to read and write the English language and he also had to attend church every week.
When Geordie and True Son are sent in the city to buy some groceries, True Son meets a black man named Bejance who just like True Son was raised by the Indians. When the boys go visit him, True Son is warned that he will be slowly assimilated by the white culture just like Bejance was. Bejance also tells True Son about an Indian living in the First Mountains who is the only one in those lands who still knows how to speak the Indian language. From that day, True Son thinks constantly about the day he will go on the mountain to see Corn Blade.
When spring comes, True Son and Geordie pack a small bag with food and plan to go visit the old Indian in the mountains. They are seen however by Wilse’s son and brought back to the town. The food found in True Son’s bag is seen as evidence for his attempt to run away and while it was not true, True Son did not tried to defend himself.
Meanwhile, True Son’s mother felt ill and was visited by Parson Elder. Aunt Kate tells Parson Elder that the reason why Myra is sad is because her son refuses to acknowledge her as his mother. Parson Elder insists that he speaks with True Son and when he does it. He notices how True Son is more different than any person he ever knew and that he acted more like a grown up and less like a child. Parson Elder treats True Son with respect but the young boy misunderstands his actions and thinks that the Parson tries to secretly convert him to Christianity.
When True Son asks the Parson about the Paxton boys' massacre and the Parson sadly admits that he was among the man who participated in the massacre. Even though True Son is told again that the Indians were killing white children, True Son refuses to believe it and leaves.
After a while, True Son gets sick and the town physician attributes his sickness to the fact that he was raised by Indians. True Son’s father feels guilty for what had happened and considers that his son’s illness is also his fault. In an attempt to try and make him feel better, Aunt Kate brings out True Son’s Indian clothes but that doesn’t help him either.
During those days when True Son got sick, there was a rumor that two Indians were seen lurking around the town searching for True Son. A few days later, one of them was killed by Uncle Wilse and scalped. Mr. Butler choses to hide the incident from his family, thinking that it will only make them feel worst and focuses instead on his work.
True Son also hears about the Indians lurking around and one night he tries to communicate with them using a secret language used by the Indians. True Son meets then Half Arrow who takes him to Little Crane’s dead body. Half Arrow and True Son then go to Uncle Wilse and they kill him before running away and returning to the Indian tribe. After many days of traveling, the two young men finally reach the Indian tribe.
When Half Arrow and True Son arrive, they are treated with great dignity and True Son knows that his family is also happy to see him. Little Crane’s family however is not happy and they demand Little Crane to be avenged. It is thus decided that the Indians will go avenge the dead boy and that True Son will take part as well.
While at first True Son is happy to be included as well, he soon realizes that all the stories he heard about the Indians are true and that they do indeed kill children and women. True Son is convinced to act as a decoy to lure unsuspecting white people to their deaths but True Son is unable to carry out his duty when he realizes that the Indians will a kill a young boy who was approximately the same age as Geordie. The Indians see this as a form of betrayal and plan to kill True Son. He is saved however by his father and is told to leave and go to his white family. True Son’s Indian father takes him to the river he must cross in order to go to his white family.
The novel ends with Cuyloga turning away from True Son and with the young boy staring at the road he knows will take him to the white settlements.
