Ike FitzHugh's mother is Inuit and his father is white. To many of the whites rushing Alaska during the 1898 gold rush, this makes him a 'half-breed' and therefore is not to be trusted. But when Ike helps an injured white boy, he proves to him that being honest has nothing to do with race. From Ike's point of view, readers learn about the people involved in the Klondike Gold Rush, Inuit and white, and the different attitudes of the era regarding nature and race.