A Tameme Indian man

Francisco Tenamaztle leads an indigenous uprising in defense of the rights of his people. For over nine years, he led many battles against Spanish troops, until recently when he got arrested.

Fray Antonio visits Tenamaztle in jail and promises his group of Franciscan priests is mobilizing to secure his release. Meanwhile, Fernando Hidalgo de la Rocha, the viceroy's envoy, keeps finding indigenous protesters outside the prison, peacefully demanding for their leader to be freed.

He doesn't want a revolt to start, so he asks Antonio to make Tenamaztle order his people to go away. However Antonio refuses, claiming to be on the side of justice and truth. On the beach, a group of natives is fishing and getting the loads ready for delivery.

These particular men are tamemes, indigenous people that carry loads on their backs, which could be people, taxes, or items for trade. Painalli is a tameme that believes in Tenamaztle's cause, and today, he brings a letter to be secretly delivered with the fish in order to help that cause.

However his brother Itzmin doesn't approve of Painalli's involvement in the conflict, and doesn't even come home to visit the family anymore. After passing the load to another tameme, Painalli returns to the village to see his son Ollin and his mother, who is worried about the relationship between her sons and the illness currently taking the lives of many members of their tribe.

Sometime later, Don Miguel de Ibarra is receiving important news: the work at his mines is decreasing in both quantity and quality because of the problems with the indigenous tribes.

Also, a hearing will be held to decide the future of Tenamaztle, for which he'll be extradited to Spain. Miguel doesn't want to allow this to happen, so he orders his guard Diaz to get things ready because they'll be leaving for the city soon.

Miguel's daughter Elisa is also receiving big news: the servants have helped sneak the letter inside the house and reach her without her father knowing. She's a key witness in the Tenamaztle case, and the letter comes from the priests, asking for her help.

As dangerous as it may be, Elisa will have to find a way to go to the city too without Miguel knowing her intentions, because she wants to get back at her father for having killed her husband, who used to work with the priests in favor of the cause.

At that moment, she gets a visit from Diaz, who has bought some new clothes for her as a courting gift, but she quickly sends him away, not having any interest at all in him.

Fray Valerio receives a letter from Elisa where she promises she'll help and he goes to the village to ask Painalli to help him with an incoming load, which is so important that needs someone more trustworthy than Itzmin.

Painalli hesitates because the village doesn't have many men left and they need him, but he agrees to go when Valerio explains this is for Teamaztle's cause and it's what Painalli's late father would've done.

Itzmin overhears all this, and he's furious this is still going on. When night falls and Valerio leaves with Painalli and other tameme called Coyolli, Itzmin tries to intervene, but they just ignore him, thus Itzmin decides to follow them in secret.

Meanwhile, the mother is in the middle of putting Ollin to bed when she discovers the boy is ill too. Back to Elisa, she's helping her father with his leg pain when he brings up the subject of her future.

He wants her to marry Diaz because he's a nobleman, but Elisa manages to change the subject without having to comment on the matter. In the morning, Elisa tells Miguel she wants to go the city too, pretending to be thinking about her future to make Miguel accept.

When they make it to the city, Miguel goes to see Tenamaztle in prison to tell him he should've killed him when he captured him, however Tenamaztle isn't scared.

He cries out a few words in his language through the window, and all his people outside yell back, showing he has all the support he needs to end indigenous slavery. During the trial, Miguel accuses Tenamaztle of being a murderer and that's why he should be judged here in the new world, not in Spain.

Fray Antonio cuts in, explaining that if Tenamaztle stays here, it'll be the trigger for a rebellion. He also accuses Miguel of false testimony and swears on his god that he has a noble Spaniard witness willing to declare in front of the king, but their identity is being protected to avoid violence against them.

Fernando believes a priest wouldn't blaspheme, so he approves Tenamaztle's extradition. Furious, Miguel asks Fernando to get him a private meeting with the viceroy, but Fernando refuses, reminding Miguel this is more important than his personal business.

Meanwhile, Elisa meets with Valerio at the temple, and this is seen by Diaz, who has been keeping an eye on her. When Diaz informs Miguel of this, he finally realizes they're trying to use his own daughter against him and orders Diaz to bring her back, promising him money and Elisa's hand as a reward.

Fortunately, the nuns see Diaz and his soldiers coming down the road, so Valerio gets to leave with Elisa and the tamemes before they can be found. Itzmin is still nearby though, and he offers Diaz his help in exchange for some money.

Diaz accepts, paying him half and promising him more only if they manage to catch Elisa. While Antonio sends Tenamaztle safely to Spain, Valerio's group stops to rest after a morning spent running.

The tamemes find Elisa amusing because she doesn't know how to deal with bugs and nature in general, and she keeps getting frustrated because they can't understand her language.

After eating some fruits the tamemes have foraged, the group takes off again, trying to take a path the horses can't follow. However Itzmin is a good tracker and recognizes these tricks, so he guides Diaz and his men in the right direction.

When they stop for another break later, Painalli sees Diaz coming in the distance and notices Itzmin is with them. In order to lose them, they'll have to go around the mountain and go down the other side.

Coyolli doesn't agree, thinking going through the mountains would be faster, but Painalli refuses to endanger their load. Speaking of the load, Elisa wishes they'd let her walk, thinking it'll be faster and she'll feel less ridiculous, but the men refuse.

A few hours later, Valerio is getting too tired and accepts the fact his old body is keeping them back, so he sends the tamemes ahead with Elisa while he stays back to try to negotiate with the soldiers. Unfortunately, Diaz doesn't take it well when Valerio reminds him he knows all his confession secrets and shoots the fray on the spot.

Elisa and the tamemes see this from the mountains, but there is no time to grieve, they need to get going. Later, when they stop to reinforce Elisa's seat, Painalli finally reveals to her that he can speak her language and asks about the soldiers.

Elisa explains those were her father's henchmen, and that they'll do anything to stop her from getting to the coast where a ship awaits her to go to Spain. Night falls, and in the village, Painalli's mother's worry increases because Ollin isn't getting any better.

In the mountain, the group decides to camp for the night, and Painalli gives Elisa his cloak when he notices she's cold. In the morning, Itzmin and the soldiers catch up to the group. While Diaz captures Elisa, the tamemes fight the other soldiers, which ends with Painalli falling in the river and Coyolli shot.

This is the second death of someone beloved by the tribe and Itzmin doesn't like it, however when he asks for the rest of the money in order to leave, he's denied. As part of the deal, Diaz wants Itzmin to guide them back as well.

In the evening, when the soldiers stop to camp for the night, Diaz tries to get closer to Elisa, but she fights back and that makes the soldiers tie her to a tree. A few moments later, Painalli sneaks into the camp while everyone is asleep.

Itzmin wakes up when he hears a noise, but Painalli surprises him from behind and after hitting him, he ties him up, saying he should kill him but instead, he'll consider this as "making them even". Then, Painalli frees Elisa and kills her guard when he sees them before they run away.

In the morning, Diaz is furious to see what happen and orders Itzmin to find Elisa immediately. Speaking of Elisa, she's finally learning why the tamemes had to carry her: after a few hours of running, she's weak and tired, meaning she can't go on.

Seeing Painalli frustrated with her, Elisa tries to explain not all Spaniards are the same and that she's different, so to make her understand how he feels, Painalli tells her he and Itzmin had to watch their father be killed by her people.

Moments later, Itzmin manages to find the marks left behind by Painalli, and judging by the shape, he can guess his brother is carrying Elisa. However, the path he guides the soldiers through is the wrong one, part of a plan by Painalli.

It turns out he's been running around while carrying some rocks while Elisa stayed on top of a tree, that way his brother would get away from them and Elisa could regain some energy.

Unfortunately, Elisa still doesn't think she can make it to the coast, so Painalli begins carrying her, only stopping to wash at the river and to gather some fruit to eat. Eventually, Itzmin realizes he's been led on the wrong path and takes the soldiers back to find the real track.

However, Itzmin discovers Painalli isn't taking Elisa to the coast, and he gets upset when he guesses their new direction, trying to run away. Diaz doesn't let him, though and whips Itzmin to make him tell them the truth.

It turns out Painalli has taken Elisa back to his village, where he's heartbroken to see how many people have been dying of illness before giving Coyolli's family the bad news. Afterward, Painalli tries to spend some time with his sick son while listening to his mother's scolding for bringing Elisa to their home.

In the evening, Painalli hears the soldiers approaching. Elisa wants to escape alone so Painalli can stay with his family, but he refuses because he owes it to his father to protect the cause.

By the time Diaz and the others arrive, Elisa and Painalli are already gone, but Itzmin finds the family. Ignoring Ollin's attempt to attack him, Itzmin listens to his mother accuse him of taking petty revenge too far.

Elisa and Painalli get far enough and Elisa gets off his back, arguing again over not wanting to be carried as a load. Painalli doesn't like it but he lets her walk, only to stop in the morning when she's already getting tired again and her shoes hurt her feet.

To help her, Painalli wraps her feet with leaves before putting her shoes on again, and Elisa takes the chance to ask about Ollin's mother. It turns out she died when she gave birth, and she had been a woman from another village that Itzmin brought over to theirs.

A few hours later, they stop to sleep when a storm comes, which is a good thing because the rain will make them harder to track. When Elisa gets scared of the lightning, Painalli comforts her with a hug. The next day, Elisa's feet are feeling better thanks to Painalli's herbs.

Since he's already shared about himself, Elisa tells him about her own husband in exchange, showing Painalli the medallion he had gifted her the day they got engaged.

She apologizes for all the pain her family has caused and Painalli explains his own family is at fault too since his brother is only helping the Spaniards because even after all these years, he still wants revenge on Painalli for having married the woman he loved.

Moments later, when Elisa and Painalli are crossing a bridge, Diaz and his men finally find them, revealing they've brought Ollin with them. Elisa hands herself in, but instead of giving Ollin to Painalli, Itzmin throws him into the river.

The soldiers leave with Elisa while Painalli jumps to rescue his son, but unfortunately, Ollin is dead. Desperate for revenge, Painalli goes after Itzmin, who runs deeper into the forest and away from the soldiers so they can have privacy.

Itzmin asks Painalli to kill him and jumps on him to provoke him, but Painalli stops himself from attacking when he discovers Itzmin is sick too. After hearing his brother explain Ollin had already been dead when he was thrown, Painalli leaves, thinking that dying slowly of the illness is a better punishment than a quick death by knife.

Then, Painalli takes Ollin's body back to the village and everyone says goodbye to the boy with a proper burial. In the meantime, Miguel picks up Elisa and tells her everything he does is for her own good.

Elisa wonders if he's going to kill her like he killed her husband, and Miguel slaps her for it. Miguel's traveling party has to make it back to the city, but they stop when one of the carriage's wheels gets broken.

This gives Painalli the chance to catch up to them and after everyone goes to sleep, he sneaks into their camp in the middle of the night to put poisonous herbs in their water.

In the morning, the group finds all their horses and a few of their soldiers dead, so they'll have to continue on foot. A few moments later, Painalli makes his presence known and Elisa runs to him.

Painalli picks her up and runs away, too fast for the others to keep up because they're slowly becoming ill, and when Diaz manages to come closer, he can't bring himself to shoot because he loves Elisa.

Deciding a quick death is preferable to waiting for the poison to kick in, Diaz ends things for himself with a shot. Hours later, the duo makes it to the coast, where the priests are waiting with a boat that will take Elisa to a ship.

Before leaving, Elisa asks Painalli to come with her, but since he turns her down because he has a place in the village as a free man, Elisa gifts him her medallion as a token of gratitude and friendship. Eventually, Elisa makes it to Spain and her testimony earns Tenamaztle his freedom.

Because of his fight in defense of his people, Tenamaztle is considered a pioneer in the human rights movement. The Spanish slavery laws he fought against were abolished in Mexico in 1718.