In 1938, noted anthropologist John Adair travelled to the Navajo reservation in Pine Springs, Arizona with a 16mm hand wind motion picture camera. There, Adair met and filmed the Burnside family, creating a visual record of Navajo life in the 1930's. Adair's previously unseen historical footage is juxtaposed with contemporary scenes and in-depth interviews with the family 50 years later. As their story evolves, the clash between past and present surfaces, documenting four generations of change in one Navajo family. This rich and telling film of the Burnside history becomes a complex microcosm of Navajo culture in transition and raises questions about the survival of ethnicity in 20th century America.