French is a 17-year-old Métis boy who serves as a resourceful survivalist for his found family. Captured by government agents and held in a repurposed residential school, he works to endure a harrowing system meant to extract his bone marrow. Despite facing physical abuse and intense psychological manipulation, he remains fiercely protective of his loved ones and determines to escape at any cost.

Rose is a 16-year-old Indigenous girl with a fierce, protective spirit and deep intuition. Raised by her grandmother before joining Miigwans's found family, she is a skilled fighter known for her curly hair and quick emotions. She maintains a strong connection to the language and wisdom of her ancestors, relying on her instincts when she sets out on a dangerous mission to rescue French.

Mitch is French's older brother who sacrificed himself to recruiters when they were children. He has since been raised within the residential school system and heavily indoctrinated into believing that marrow extraction serves a higher, divine purpose. Now a government agent with a permanent limp, he acts as a sharp contrast to his brother's traditional beliefs.

Miigwans is a middle-aged Indigenous Elder who serves as the patient, graceful parent-figure to his found family. Recently reunited with his husband, Isaac, he bears the heavy responsibility of guiding his group through constant peril. He keeps his people's history alive through storytelling and remains willing to sacrifice his own safety for the younger members of his camp.

Wab is an 18- or 19-year-old pregnant woman traveling with Miigwans's group. Bearing a large scar on her face from severe childhood trauma, she is known for her fierce, confrontational demeanor and deep courage. She relies on the devoted support of her partner, Chi Boy, as she prepares to give birth while the family is actively hunted.

Chi Boy is an exceptionally tall, quiet young man and a devoted partner to Wab. Having grown up in foster homes and faced severe persecution from a young age, he uses his physical strength and steady presence to protect Wab and their expected child.

The Chief is a corrupt Indigenous man who exploits his heritage to maintain a cult-like dominance over a group of non-Indigenous women. Operating from an isolated house in the woods, he preys on the vulnerable by stealing their blood and manipulating them with plagiarized stories, having entirely lost his own ability to dream.

Agent Mellin is a strict, severe senior official at the residential school where French is imprisoned. Dressed in unadorned business suits, she approaches the torture, processing, and hunting of Indigenous people with chilling bureaucratic efficiency and overt racism.

Elizabeth is a founder of the Mothers of Meaningful Slumber (MOMS), an all-women vigilante group. She justifies the kidnapping and harm of Indigenous people as a necessary, practical measure to illegally harvest marrow for her own community's plague-stricken children.

Adelaide is the second-in-command of the MOMS organization. Driven by intense desperation to cure her comatose, plague-affected son Jimmy, she secretly negotiates with Canadian agents to secure her own family's comfort at the direct expense of her fellow vigilantes.

Tree is a 13-year-old identical twin who travels with the found family. Despite carrying the physical disfigurements and emotional scars of severe past torture at the hands of marrow hunters, he maintains an optimistic and fun-loving spirit alongside his brother.

Zheegwon is Tree's 13-year-old identical twin. Missing a pinkie finger due to an early, violent encounter with marrow hunters, he nonetheless provides a youthful, resilient energy to the older teenagers in the group.

Isaac is Miigwans's husband, recently rescued from the residential school system. Reunited with his spouse, he provides quiet support and love to the wider found family during their migrations across the dangerous wilderness.

Derrick is a relatively new entrant to Miigwans's found family. Infatuated with Rose, he decides to accompany her when she leaves the camp. He acts cautiously but remains steadfastly devoted to keeping her safe, even when it leads him into life-threatening traps.

Nam is a young Indigenous person forced to live with and serve their abusive uncle, the Chief. Observant and enduring, Nam understands the Chief's manipulations and secretly works to undermine him, eventually finding an opportunity for escape when Rose and Derrick arrive.

Jean is the biological father of French and Mitch. He now operates as a respected Elder and leader of another family within the larger Council network, hoping to build a safe future for the scattered survivors of the plague.

Veronica is the youngest member of the MOMS vigilante group. Though she occasionally displays a softer, more regretful demeanor regarding the captives' horrific conditions, her ultimate loyalty remains securely with securing a future for her own daughter.

Father Carole ostensibly works as a director for the residential school system, but secretly operates as an inside informant for the Council of Indigenous families, passing them vital intelligence about recruiter movements and facility transfers.

Bullet is an Elder on the Council who provides strategic oversight for the scattered families. Though she can be strict regarding impulsive actions, she harbors a deep respect for tenacity and courage among the younger generation.

Theo is a sympathetic nurse from Boston who belongs to an underground network dedicated to assisting captive Indigenous people. He travels through the dangerous forests to deliver urgent medical care and warnings.

Rania is a sympathetic nurse originally from Pakistan. Acting directly against the marrow-harvesting regime, she uses her medical expertise to treat injured members of the found family during their desperate migration.

Alice is a masked nurse patrolling the woods near the extraction facilities, intercepting runaways and providing them with urgent warnings about the heavy security ahead.

May is an underground network nurse who travels with Alice, sharing critical information with searchers to keep them away from the schools and updating them on the status of captured individuals.

Therese is a young Indigenous mother attempting to survive in the wild with her daughter. Wary and deeply protective, she cautiously navigates interactions with supposed runaways, always keeping her weapon close.

Sunny is Therese's seven-year-old daughter. Innocent and trusting, she holds hands with strangers she believes to be allies while traveling through the dangerous forests.

JP is a loud man in his mid-fifties traveling through the wild with Therese and Sunny. His bumbling persona and apparent cluelessness about survival tactics often irritate those around him.

Marguerite is an inmate at the residential school where French is held. She secretly passes messages to French, hoping to maintain a connection with her heritage and relay news of her survival to her mother.

Cardinal is one of the non-Indigenous women living at the Chief's house. Affected by the plague and entirely unable to dream, she relies on the Chief for survival and is pregnant with his child.

Grouse is the oldest of the non-Indigenous women living with the Chief. Lost to the effects of the plague, she follows him worshipfully in exchange for diluted blood.

Robin is the youngest of the non-Indigenous women kept by the Chief. Barely more than a child, she is thoroughly trapped within his manipulative cult.

Slopper is the youngest member of Miigwans's found family. Though physically a giant, he maintains a child-like innocence within the group's storytelling circles.

Shirley-Rachel is an aggressive, impatient member of the MOMS organization. She readily abandons the group's planned protocols to violently secure marrow for herself when left unsupervised.

Kelsey is a member of the MOMS vigilante group who happily assists Shirley-Rachel in brutalizing captives when their leaders are not present.