In the 1870's a girl is born under a tree, her birth tree, chosen to give her strength and wisdom. When the tree is cut down she follows it into the white man's world, working as a cook for the big house on the island. Her tree has become a kitchen table, one she will pass down through successive generations as a legacy, a way of carving out her family stories. Now, generations later, a young man and his mother fight for ownership of the table.