A young drummer and dancer guides tourists through a museum, a silver carver/disc jockey talks about his love both of rock and roll and traditional carving, and a Tlingit elder teaches children at a summer fish camp. A Matter of Respect portrays a diverse group of people expressing their culture and identity and honoring their ancestors' way of life through teaching language, harvesting and preparing traditional foods, restoring community cemeteries and dancing, carving and weaving.