Mastincala, the Rabbit Boy, is born in a tumultuous and uncertain time for his people, the Lakota. He is but a boy when his father is killed during the clash between the Lakota and Colonel Harney's army at Rosebud, and he vows to avenge his father's death.

Mastincala joins Crazy Horse and the Oglala on their rides against the Crow, fighting against the encroachment and overhunting of Big Horn country. He earns the name Tacante, Buffalo Heart, for his courage during one particularly fierce battle, and sheds his softer boyhood persona. When gold is discovered in the sacred Black Hills, a series of unstoppable events is set in motion-culminating in the bloody massacre at Little Big Horn. In the midst of the turmoil, Mastincala must decide how to forge a future for his family while defending the honor and tradition of his ancestors.

Lakota vividly details the struggle of the Lakota people against the white man for control of their hunting grounds, and offers a moving, bittersweet portrait of the period that marked the end of a way of life for the Plains Sioux.