Based on actual events in 1833, Rising Fawn tells the poignant and triumphant story of a child swept up in the chaos of the Removal. A soldier rescues Rising Fawn and takes her to live with his relatives in Memphis. Though otherwise kindly, the adoptive parents want Rising Fawn to "be like us"; she retreats into silence. Gradually, mutual respect grows between adults and child. On Christmas Day, through the mystery of ceremonial fire—in their culture and hers—Rising Fawn realizes how to survive without abandoning her heritage. The original Rising Fawn of history sustained this vision throughout her life, and it sustains her descendants to this day.

Hailed as a classic in Native American literature, this tale has been an inspiration for countless children as well as adults who are trying to find harmony in their lives. Rising Fawn tells the story of a young Choctaw girl preparing to leave Mississippi during the Indian Removal to the West and how she learns to cope with a new world when she is kidnapped and left with a white family.