Inuit hunter Hivshu, a.k.a. Robert E. Peary II, traces the story of his great grandfather the famous Arctic explorer, and the mystery of his Eskimo ancestors who Peary brought back to New York as part of an exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History in 1897. Using archival footage, photos and audio recordings the film chronicles Peary's exploration of the Arctic and his still controversial 1909 claim to be the first man to reach the North Pole. The film also explores the activities of Peary and Franz Boas, the "father" of American anthropology, who viewed the Eskimos as barbarians, as "living fossils" for scientific study, focusing on the fate of the six Eskimos who traveled to New York with Peary, including the sole survivor, Minik, a six-year-old boy.
