Pennsylvania Powwow is the story of a heartbroken woman, Leora, who leaves Atlanta and her young family, and drives nonstop, traveling back to Pennsylvania where she spent her formative years. Through the aid of a longtime friend, Leora accepts a job watching over a farmhouse and barn while its owner is in a nursing / rehabilitation facility



At the same time, her brother, Paul, is dying of AIDS at their maternal family home on a large farmstead in New Hampshire. Unbeknownst to her, Paul has written her and their sibling Salome, asking which one of them would like to inherit the Ardmore estate.



The farmhouse where Leora sleeps is imbued with historical currents that hark back to a former healer who'd lived there, a braucherei (powwower). Leora has always suspected that she possesses an inexplicable healing gift, and her interactions with nursing home residents prove that she is indeed a healer. Sal and Leora are competing separately to inherit the land in New England, and a devastating rift develops between them.



When Leora is nicknamed Powwow by the elderly residents at the home, she finds herself the target of discrimination and heads north. There, the Ardmore siblings all meet and the future of the land is decided.