Circa 1840. Some Inuit tribes still have never met any white people, although rumors circulate about what they might be, where they come from, and why. Two isolated families meet after many years. It is summer; a happy time to celebrate their reunion, but Ningiuq, an old woman of strength and wisdom, cannot stop worrying. After a successful fishing trip the families decide to dry the winter's catch on a remote island, safe from dogs and other animals. Ningiuq volunteers to take on this chore, seizing the occasion for some time alone. Her grandson, Maniq, follows her, as does the old Kutuguk. The three wait in vain for the return of the hunters as the cold of fall begins. No one comes. Where are they? Kutuguk's last hour passes and Ningiuq and Maniq bury her. When the first snow falls Ningiuq decides to return to the main camp with Maniq to see what happened to the others. But there are no others. Everyone is dead. Beside their bloated corpses, Ningiuq finds objects known to belong to the white foreigners--a steel needle, a tin cup. Stunned, Ningiuq and Maniq go back to the relative safety of their island. What can they do now? If they are completely alone in this world what is the meaning of survival? Ningiuq tries desperately to protect Maniq from the loneliness of being the last human being on earth. Until one day, in the dark of the winter, she senses her own death coming. What is she to do?