Relic and Nick Adonidas live on the west coast of Canada. The sale of alluvial wood to the sawmill brings so little money that the two "beach pirates" are dependent on ancillary business. The young Indian Jesse gets in the way of the beach pirates.
Jesse and Hugh attempt to figure out how to angle for salmon from an old troller man, who may uninformed of individual issues he is going to be stood up to with.
Jesse decides to host a "potlatch" in which a man gives away all of his possessions but the celebration produces different actions from people in the area.