Hidden Doe, a Mesquakie girl growing up in the 1840's, hears rumors of the cruelty of the White Ones, a people to be feared because they are so very different from her own native Mesquakie nation. By chance and then intentionally, she spies on a settler girl, and her perspective changes: "She is not evil. She is a me, but she is white." Hidden Doe carries this perspective with her as white people force her and her family onto a reservation, demand their children into government schools, and compel families to worship at white churches. Collaboratively written by two white teachers of English at Iowa State University, this historical novel springs from their research into Iowa history. Told in the imagined parlance of Hidden Doe, the story emphasizes the power of nonviolent solutions and the commonality that all humans share. While the message of the novel continues to be welcome, the authenticity of its rendering of a Native American point of view on this piece of history is discussible.

A young Mesquakie Indian girl grows to adulthood at a time when her people are forced to move from their home in Iowa to a reservation in Kansas and encouraged to adopt the white culture.