The independence movement to free Indonesia from the control of its Dutch colonizers began as a land and power struggle in the late 1890’s. Tjoet Nja Dhien dramatizes that struggle for some ten years. As more Dutch troops arrive to suppress rebel forces fighting in the jungles of the Sultanate of Aceh (Sumatra), the insurgents lose their leader in battle, and his widow, Tjoet Nja Dhien, takes on that role. Only her battle is for more than land and power; it is for the faith—for Allah, for Islam. And this is what sustains her devotion to the struggle, even with traitors who sell out to the Dutch. In the end, as her health fails her, a traitor emerges who brings the final confrontation to a head for Tjoet Nja Dhien. There is no respect from her for his motives, which he claims are out of compassion for her. Though Tjoet Nja Dhien died in captivity, this defender of Indonesia’s freedom went on to take her place among other Indonesian heroes who stood against would-be colonizers.