New ways of life often provide benefits while simultaneously inflicting pain. This tendency is especially true when indigenous, ethnic, and rural people face the impacts of the modern world. Polar Bear Inc. portrays these pressures through the depiction of a fictional indigenous community and the tensions and challenges occurring in the wake of social and economic transitions. By visiting a struggling and evolving community, the reader witnesses the tensions, rivalries, and dysfunction arising due to outside intrusions and internal wrangling. Meet a wide cast of characters who must take sides in a tale of power, control, and identity as some people embrace their heritage while others turn away from it.