The synopsis tells the story of a couple of squatters who arrive in the Pantanal looking for “a land that doesn't have so many owners”. Maria Marruá, played by Cássia Kiss and Zé, played by José Dummont, after much suffering with the loss of all their children in conflicts with farmers, resolve to rebuild their lives in the Pantanal region. When they arrive, Maria becomes pregnant undesirably. The scene in which Maria gives birth to the girl Juma is historical: the woman, with the intention of abandoning her daughter, climbs into a canoe and, in the middle of the river, gives birth. Then she abandons her daughter and pushes the canoe upstream. Desperate, she returns and rescues the baby, regretting what she had done and hoping that what happens to the other children will not happen again with Juma. From there, a real plot begins, transforming the characters into heroes and true legends. The woman who became a jaguar and the Old Man from Rio shone among the beauty of images.