An adult Mi'kmaq woman who survives the Shubenacadie Residential School system. She reflects on the trauma of having her native language and cultural identity forcibly removed during her childhood. Now communicating in what she calls a "scrambled ballad," she struggles with the imposition of English over her mother tongue. She seeks to reclaim her voice and identity while extending an offer to educate the dominant culture about her heritage.

A generalized representation of the white educators at the Shubenacadie Residential School and the broader dominant society in Canada. This group enforces deracination and cultural assimilation on Indigenous children, actively forbidding them from speaking their native languages. They represent a sociopolitical structure that holds more power than the marginalized First Nations communities.

A member of the Mi'kmaq Nation who marries the poet. Raised on the Eskasoni Reserve in Nova Scotia, he brings his family back to his hometown to settle. Together with his wife, he raises ten children, including two foster sons.