 In 1550, fifty years after the Portuguese colonization of Brazil began, a German voyager Hans Staden is shipwrecked off the coast of Santa Catarina, Brazil. He works in the colony for four years. When he is about to return to Europe to receive the due recognition and gold from the King of Portugal, Staden s Indian slave disappears while fishing. Staden takes a canoe to search for the Indian in a nearby river, used by feuding Indian tribes for fishing. The rest is history, said to be a true story.