Blue Prairie Woman is an ancestral Ojibwe mother and a foundational figure for both the Roy and Shawano families. She represents intergenerational connection and cultural survival. Devoted to her children, her history echoes down through her descendants, providing them with a spiritual anchor.

Scranton Roy is a white soldier with a Quaker father and a poet mother. Deeply unsettled by the violence he witnesses and participates in during an attack on an Ojibwe village, he adopts a young Indigenous girl he finds strapped to a dog. He carries profound guilt for his actions during the battle, which shapes his ongoing relationship with the Ojibwe people.

Matilda Roy is a young Ojibwe girl who survives a military raid and is adopted by Scranton Roy. Separated from her biological mother, Blue Prairie Woman, she serves as a central ancestral connection between the white and Indigenous families. She ultimately retains a strong, mystical tie to her original heritage.

Augustus Roy is the biracial son of Scranton Roy and Peace McKnight. He builds a life closely intertwined with the Ojibwe community, marrying into the family of the woman his father wronged. He holds strong convictions about raising and educating his children at home, actively resisting the assimilationist government boarding schools.

Klaus is an "urban Indian" and a powwow trader who sells small stone turtles. Living in the bottom half of a duplex in Minneapolis, he struggles with his disconnection from his traditional culture and works for his friend Richard Whiteheart Beads. Prone to selfishness, his fixation on a woman he meets at a powwow leads him to make a series of rash decisions, throwing his life into chaos.

Sweetheart Calico is a mysterious woman who embodies the traditional myth of the antelope women, running free with her daughters. Taken from her rural home to Minneapolis by Klaus, she struggles profoundly in the urban environment. She physically and emotionally deteriorates while separated from her community, walking through the city silently singing traditional songs and serving as a living reflection of forced relocation.

Richard is an Ojibwe man living in Minneapolis who runs a cleanup business that involves illegally removing toxic mall carpeting. He feels keenly the loss of traditional knowledge in his upbringing, frequently wondering if he might have become a medicine man had he grown up on a reservation. His involvement in illegal dumping and his mistreatment of his wife strain his personal and professional life.

Rozin is an intelligent Ojibwe woman managing a troubled marriage to Richard Whiteheart Beads and the challenges of raising twin daughters in Minneapolis. She possesses a complex history with the American Indian Movement, having found the organization both spiritually awakening and highly patriarchal. She tries to balance modern city life with the traditional practices passed down by her mother and aunt.

Frank is a thoughtful, diplomatic baker who provides a calm counterpoint to the chaotic men in Rozin's life. He pours his emotions and heritage into his baking, offering consistent support and respect to Rozin and her extended family. He values the wisdom of the older women in the family and avoids demanding the spotlight.

Giizis is a traditional Ojibwe grandmother who lives on her family's original land allotment from the Dawes Act. Alongside her twin sister Noodin, she serves as a vital link between the urban younger generations and their ancestral heritage. She passes down stories, mythic history, and cultural knowledge to her granddaughters.

Noodin is Rozin's mother, a resilient and traditional woman who remains living on the rural land allotted to her family. She brings traditional Ojibwe practices into the modern urban environment of her descendants, attempting to anchor them in their culture to protect them from bad luck and illness.

Cecile is Rozin's cousin, a fiercely independent and educated woman training to be a drug counselor. She lives in an apartment above Frank's bakery. Unafraid to speak plainly about the inequalities and struggles faced by Indigenous women, she merges modern education with a deep respect for myth and ancestral awareness.

Cally is one of Rozin and Richard's twin daughters. Growing up in the city without a traditional Ojibwe name, she experiences a sense of cultural dislocation and physical vulnerability that her mother and grandmothers attempt to remedy through traditional stories and naming practices.

Deanna is Cally's twin sister, facing the same cultural and spiritual vulnerabilities as they grow up in Minneapolis. She absorbs the stories of her ancestors from her grandmothers while dealing with the instability of her parents' marriage.

Peace McKnight is the local teacher who befriends the young Matilda Roy. Only fourteen years older than her student, she functions almost like an older sister before eventually marrying Scranton Roy.

Mary is the twin daughter of Blue Prairie Woman. Raised by adoptive parents, she marries Augustus Roy, helping to integrate him into Ojibwe culture and teaching traditional knowledge to her children in their shared household.

Zosie (formerly Josephette) is Mary's twin sister and daughter of Blue Prairie Woman. She shares a husband, Augustus Roy, with her sister, and the three maintain a deeply connected household where traditional Ojibwe knowledge is preserved.

Jimmy Badger is a traditional medicine man who provides spiritual advice. He warns against interfering with the antelope women, advocating for maintaining the natural and spiritual balance of their community rather than trapping them in the city.

Almost Soup is an intelligent, resilient reservation dog descended from the dog that carried Matilda away. He understands the dangers of his environment and keeps a watchful, protective eye on the younger members of the family, particularly the twins.