In her fifties, Faye lives with her mother in the small town of Stiles and Stokes, New Hampshire. She works alongside her mother in an estate appraisal business, maintaining a regimented, quiet life that guards against emotional vulnerability. While cataloging the contents of a local estate, she discovers a painted Ojibwe drum, an artifact that sparks a sudden departure from her usually analytical and unsentimental nature.

Bernard is a middle-aged Ojibwe man who works odd jobs at a hospital on a reservation in North Dakota. He lives a solitary life but remains deeply reliable, assisting his neighbors whenever called upon. As the grandson of the man who created the painted drum, he holds vital knowledge of its history and the traditional songs associated with it.

A 19th-century Ojibwe man who crafts the painted drum following a devastating family loss. Plagued by despair and isolation after his wife departs for another man, taking their daughter with her, he suffers a period of profound grief. He eventually receives guidance in a dream to construct a ceremonial drum, a project that reconnects him to his community.

A young mother of three children living in her late father's hand-built house twenty miles outside town on the Ojibwe reservation. She struggles with poverty and the loss of traditional ways of living. She faces difficult choices while trying to secure necessities for her family during a bitter winter.

Faye's mother and business partner in an estate disposition service. Shrewd and unsentimental, she possesses significant expertise in appraising antiques and Native American artifacts. Despite her Ojibwe heritage, she identifies strictly with analytical rationality and maintains a regimented, quiet household.

Bernard's grandmother and Old Shaawano's wife, living at the end of the 19th century. A consuming romance prompts her to leave her husband and journey to her lover's camp with her baby and nine-year-old daughter. She is an industrious woman who fiercely protects her youngest child in hostile territory.

The nine-year-old child of Old Shaawano and Anaquot. Known for being tenderhearted and brave, she embodies the traditional Ojibwe spirit of placing the community's survival above oneself. Her tragic encounter with wolves sets the novel's historical events in motion.

Chook's son and an army veteran suffering from a severe thyroid condition that prevents him from closing his eyes. Legally blind and sensitive to daylight, he spends his days in semi-darkness listening to audiobooks. He carries the Ojibwe name Ma'iingan, meaning wolf.

A 56-year-old German artist and sculptor living at the end of Revival Road. Once celebrated for his stone assemblages, he has not produced significant work in years. He maintains an intense but compartmentalized nocturnal relationship with Faye while struggling to connect with his college-aged daughter.

A self-absorbed philosophy professor who spent years working on a manuscript about science and faith. He maintained a volatile household environment, engaging in elevated arguments with Elsie and expecting absolute adoration from his students.

The son of Old Shaawano, traumatized in early childhood when his mother left and his sister was lost to wolves. His unresolved pain manifests later in severe alcoholism and abusive behavior, though in sober moments he passes down the traditional songs of the drum.

Simon Jack's wife, known for her strong will, industrious nature, and comprehensive knowledge of plant medicines. Named for the spirit of the wolverine, she initially treats her husband's lover with dangerous hostility but eventually finds common ground with her.

A clever, vain hunter from the Pillager clan who takes pride in his appearance and his ability to maintain multiple relationships. His egotism blinds him to the shifting dynamics between the women in his life, leading him to underestimate both his wife and his lover.

A distant relation of the town's founding family who lives at the end of Revival Road. Searching desperately for a sense of belonging, he actively tries to uncover and adopt Native American ancestry, decorating his yard with artifacts and amulets.

Ira's nine-year-old daughter. Resourceful, protective, and deeply caring, she assumes responsibility for her younger siblings' survival when they are left alone in a freezing house with dwindling supplies.

The grandfather of John Jewett Tatro. He historically worked as an Indian agent on the Ojibwe reservation before opening a bar there, where he acquired various Indigenous artifacts, including the painted drum, in exchange for alcohol.

A reckless teenager living near Faye on Revival Road. After wrecking his father's car and facing eviction, he lives in a cottage by Kurt's house, antagonizing the local wildlife and drawing the attention of Kurt's daughter.

Kurt's college-aged daughter. Self-absorbed and petulant, she visits her father on weekends and deliberately courts his disapproval by pursuing a connection with a local teenage troublemaker.

Chook's son and Morris's brother. He embraces modern, assimilated life, working at an electric plant and living in a prefabricated house. He encounters Ira at a bar, boasting about his financial stability while concealing a spiritual emptiness.

An elderly, eccentric resident of Stiles and Stokes who lived frugally with his brother in a 19th-century ancestral home. The hoarding of family heirlooms in his estate prompts the appraisal that brings Faye to the painted drum.

Ira's toddler son. Highly vulnerable during a winter crisis, his survival depends entirely on the resourcefulness of his older sisters when they are left without heat or sufficient food.

John's wife, employed as a social worker. She bears a physical scar on her lip—a legacy of her refusal to abandon her native language at a government boarding school during her youth.

The infant daughter of Anaquot and Simon Jack. Her mother conceals her true name upon integrating into the Pillager clan to protect the child from potential mistrust and harm.

Ira's six-year-old daughter. She bravely assists her older sister as they attempt to stay warm and survive a terrifying ordeal in the freezing winter.

The daughter of Ziigwan'aage and Simon Jack. She is taken away to the Carlisle Indian School in the East as part of forced assimilation practices, eventually becoming Elsie Travers's mother.

Faye's younger sister, who died tragically in a childhood fall from an apple tree in the family orchard. The silence and blame surrounding her death profoundly altered the Travers family dynamics.

An elderly Ojibwe woman known for her neediness and self-pity. She frequently calls upon Bernard for favors and aggressively commandeers conversations when community members gather.