Tony is a twenty-one-year-old living in Oakland with fetal alcohol syndrome. He sells marijuana to wealthy teenagers and procures supplies for a local dealer named Octavio. He respects his grandmother deeply and struggles with feeling like an outsider due to his distinctive facial features.

Dene is a young graffiti artist and aspiring documentary filmmaker living in Oakland. After the death of his Uncle Lucas, Dene inherits a camera and a vision to record the stories of Indigenous people living in the city. He feels insecure about his ambiguously nonwhite identity but is determined to honor his uncle's artistic legacy.

Opal is a fifty-something mail carrier for the US Postal Service. She raises her sister's three grandsons in Oakland and manages her life through specific superstitions, such as organizing her routes by odd numbers. A survivor of a difficult childhood in the foster system, she is fiercely protective of her family.

Jacquie is Opal's sister and an addiction counselor who is recently sober. She separated from her first daughter following a traumatic event at Alcatraz and later lost her second daughter, Jamie. Living away from her three grandsons, Jacquie tries to rebuild her life and face her painful past.

Edwin is a biracial young man with a master's degree in comparative literature who spends his days isolated in his mother's house. He struggles with his weight and lack of direction. Recently, he begins working at the Indian Center to help plan the Big Oakland Powwow and uses Facebook to search for his Cheyenne biological father.

Bill is a Vietnam War veteran and former prisoner who currently works as a janitor at the Coliseum. He dates Edwin's mother, Karen, and reads extensively. He feels alienated by younger generations and often clashes with Edwin's internet-centric lifestyle.

Calvin is a young Indigenous man living with his sister Maggie. He helps plan the Big Oakland Powwow but struggles with his connection to his heritage. After being robbed of drugs he was selling, he owes a massive debt to local dealer Octavio, forcing him into a dangerous scheme.

Orvil is Jacquie's teenage grandson, raised by Opal along with his two younger brothers. He feels disconnected from his Indigenous roots and teaches himself how to powwow dance by watching YouTube videos. He plans to perform in secret at the Big Oakland Powwow to win the cash prize and connect with his culture.

Octavio is a drug dealer with a deep understanding of traditional healing practices taught to him by his grandmother. Marked by a family history of gun violence and loss, he orchestrates a plot to rob the Big Oakland Powwow of its prize money, pulling his associates and family members into the plan.

Daniel is Octavio's cousin, a tech-savvy young man grieving the loss of his brother Manny. He learns to code and use 3D printers through the internet, creating untraceable plastic guns that he sells to Octavio. He uses the money to buy a drone, viewing the world remotely through a screen.

Blue is the head of the Big Oakland Powwow committee. Raised by an affluent white adoptive family under the name Crystal, she traveled to Oklahoma to connect with her roots, only to end up in a dangerous marriage. Now back in California, she works at the Indian Center and harbors questions about her biological mother.

Thomas is a drummer who recently lost his job as a janitor at the Indian Center after a public incident with a bat. Born with an arrhythmic heartbeat that his father claimed made him a natural musician, Thomas uses traditional singing and drumming to cope with his history of trauma.

Harvey is an older Cheyenne man serving as the emcee for the Big Oakland Powwow. He has a dark history connected to the 1969 Occupation of Alcatraz. Now sober and active in recovery, he attempts to make amends and connect with the son he recently discovered through Facebook.

Karen is Edwin's white mother and Bill's girlfriend. She allows Edwin to live at home while he spends his days online, acting as a buffer between her frustrated boyfriend and her isolated son.

Charles is Calvin's brother and an associate of the dealer Octavio. Accompanied everywhere by his friend Carlos, he helps enforce Octavio's debts and agrees to participate in the plot to rob the powwow.

Loother is Orvil's younger brother, raised by his great-aunt Opal. He listens to contemporary rap music and often teases his siblings, participating in their efforts to raise money for a new bicycle.

Lony is the youngest of the three Red Feather brothers. He enjoys listening to classical music and relies on his older brothers to explain aspects of their Indigenous heritage.

Carlos is Charles's constant companion and shadow. He assists Charles in intimidating Calvin and eagerly agrees to join Octavio's robbery scheme.

Josefina is Octavio's grandmother. She teaches Octavio traditional healing practices, instructing him to build a medicine box to cope with the sickness and curses that plague their family.

Lucas is Dene's late uncle who suffered from alcoholism. Before his death from liver failure, he passes his camera and his vision for an urban documentary project to his nephew.

Manny is Daniel's deceased older brother and Octavio's cousin. His violent death leaves a void in Daniel's life, prompting Daniel to write emails to his inactive account as a coping mechanism.

Maggie is Calvin's sister, who takes medication for bipolar disorder. She shares a home with Calvin and tries to care for her daughter amidst the chaotic visits from their brother Charles.

Paul is Blue's ex-husband. He begins hitting her shortly after their marriage, prompting her terrifying escape back to California.

Ronald is Opal and Jacquie's abusive adopted uncle. After their mother's death, he takes the girls in, but his predatory behavior forces Opal to attack him to protect her sister.