The story of James Koots is told in his own words with his own voice:
The word "Hopi" means "peaceful people". Autobiography of a Hopi is a documentary short which presents the philosophy of the Hopi through the words of a farmer who still grows corn and lives according to the traditional way of harmony with nature. He tried the way of Bohanna (the European), living in the cities, working in the factories. There he found plenty of hardship but very little peace. United States Army soldiers take him away from his home by force when he is a child and hold him with the other children from his village for 5 years 500 miles from home to integrate and habituate them into urban culture. He survives depression and war and returns home to nature and tradition.