SYNOPSIS:

A young Scots/Cherokee/Shawnee medical school graduate visits his ancestor’s church on a small island in the Ohio River for traditional Native American inspiration before he returns to his old hometown of Chicksookhatchee in north Florida to establish his first practice. His old friends are still playing music and having barbecues, and Dr. Rick Martin enjoys playing guitar with them, but he does not like the new trend of casual cocaine usage. He meets Julie, a woman who feels the same way, and a romance develops between them. Old friend Joe Kaplan is now running a trendy restaurant and growing marijuana on a secret plantation, bribing local police for protection. Joe’s main assistant on the farm, Billie, is also a Native American, a Choctaw. Rick opens his early 1980s Florida office successfully, but is dismayed by the number of patients with hard drug problems. He and his group of friends go out to a nightclub and are invited to the private back room. There, one of Rick’s patients has a heart attack due to cocaine abuse. Dr. Martin saves his life, earning a controversial reputation. Another new patient appears in the clinic with serious heroin addiction problems. Mushroom Mike also deals in psychedelic fungi, and is a follower of red-robed Guru Whammy and Swami Mommy. He tries to bring Rick into the drug-dealing network. Reluctantly, Rick calls the police. The local police are a mixture of integrity and corruption. Rick is caught in the moral dilemma of not wanting to betray his old friends, but still wanting to stop hard drugs. A parallel Cherokee traditional story is related about an ancient warrior who seeks the Uktena, a mythical dragon or serpent that can confer mystical power. Ultimately, in this continuing parallel story, the warrior defeats the dragon. Mushroom Mike’s source is a Persian heroin dealer with diplomatic immunity, and he becomes the main target. Rick is frustrated in his efforts to get the police to pursue him. Rick is beaten up by other restaurant owners, and is also attacked by the drug-dealer boyfriend of his sexy femme-fatale secretary. Old friend Joe tries to get Rick to lay off his efforts, and Julie calls off their budding romance. Rick’s practice fails due to this controversy. Rick leaves for Jamaica, where he is befriended by Rastafarians and gains a deep understanding of their culture. After witnessing the killing of a young innocent boy during helicopter raids of marijuana plantations there, Rick tries to report this murder/manslaughter to local police, but instead is put in jail himself on a set-up charge. Rick spends the twelve days of Christmas with jailed Jamaicans, who are at first hostile, but soon very friendly, after they learn of his deep spirituality and Native American and Scottish roots. An American CIA officer appears to bail Rick out, on condition that he help with cocaine shipments. Rick flies with the CIA man to Bolivia, but refuses to salute a Nazi flag there. Returning to Florida, Rick calls Billie, and together they disrupt the Persian heroin connection and set up an arrest, embarrassing the police. Rick then sets up a meeting of the corrupt and honest cops with the CIA agent. Large amounts of money stolen by Rick and Billie are given away to Julie and to charities. A body is found in the Florida swamps, and the honest police fear it may be Rick’s, but Rick has gone to Mexico to help earthquake victims.