Fiction and non-fiction writer Conley introduces Little Bear, a healer in the Cherokee country of northeast Oklahoma, then lets him tell his own story. He also recounts some of the stories about Little Bear he has heard from other people who went to him for help. He does not provide any cures, recipes, or the like, but does include a glossary. Anno

A modern medicine man portrayed through the words of the people he has helpedRobert J. Conley did not set out to chronicle the life of Cherokee medicine man John Little Bear. Instead, the medicine man came to him. Little Bear asked Conley to write down his story, to reveal to the world ""what Indian medicine is really about."" For Little Bear, as for the Cherokee ancestors who brought their traditions over the Trail of Tears to Indian Territory, the medicine is about helping people. Visitors from neighboring states and Mexico come to him, each one seeking help for a different kind of problem. Each seeker's story is presented here exactly as it was told to Conley. Little Bear has cured problems involving health, relationships, and money by uncovering the source of the problem rather than simply treating the symptoms. Whereas mainstream medicine and counseling have failed his patients, Little Bear's healing practices have proven beneficial time and again.