He is soon asked to accompany the elder Gray Fire on a journey to a land of water. Gray Fire has never been able to return to this place and has attempted several times to find it alone. With Sees Behind Trees’ uncanny senses, Gray Fire knows they will soon find it. Along the way, Gray Fire gives Sees Behind Trees knowledge about finding his way in life and uses their journey to the land of water as a metaphor. On their journey, they come across strangers. This is the first time Sees Behind Trees has met people beyond his village. He had heard of strangers while listening to tales of them from older members of his tribe.  He thought they were mystical beings and nothing like his people in shape or custom.  Gray Fire and Sees Behind Trees find their way to the land of water, but the true test is Sees Behind Trees’ journey home.

Cultural markers of food such as corncakes, venison, and walnuts are mentioned. The custom of sharing bowls during mealtime with family members is noted. Artifacts such as a cape made of reeds, a rope made of grapevine, and clamshells give the reader possible clues of where Sees Behind Trees’ village may be located.   Since our main character has poor vision, many of his descriptions are about the sounds and smells around him. “ The beat of a hummingbird’s wings as it dove in and out of a cluster of….What was that smell?…roses near where my mother—who, I could feel , had just oiled her hair this morning—sat.” The only individual that Sees Behind Trees truly describes is Gray Fire. “His oiled black hair was streaked with white, and his face was brown and round as a chestnut.” He describes him as having “knobby fingers scarred by the blades of many hunting knives, nails cracked, wrinkles that slid over muscle and bone.”

Sees Behind Trees becomes a man before the reader’s eyes. Even without his vision, he sees more than most people do in his village. The reader’s mind is filled with imagery as a description of the world is told using senses other than sight. Walnut learns that there is more than one way to prove that you are a man. Universal themes of adolescence transcend the setting and can be shared by many youth today.