Perry is a 16-year-old Afro-Indigenous teen living on Sugar Island. Fiercely proud of her heritage and knowledgeable about Anishinaabe traditions, she prefers fishing to academic achievement. After crashing her car, she is forced into a 10-week summer internship, where she discovers her ancestors' remains are being held at Mackinac State College. This revelation sparks a passionate drive to repatriate her ancestors and cultural artifacts by any means necessary.

Pauline is Perry's identical twin sister, but the two are distinct in personality. Polite and academically driven, Pauline is thrilled to be the only high schooler interning directly for the Tribal Council. She wants to prove her intelligence by going away to college, contrasting with Perry's desire to stay close to home. When her anxiety flares, she copes by pulling out strands of her hair.

Erik is a new resident in town and an incoming freshman at Mackinac State College. Placed on "Team Misfit Toys" for the summer internship program, he is unfamiliar with Anishinaabe culture but eager to learn. A skilled hacker with a sense of social justice, he was expelled from high school for changing an offensive school mascot on their website. He quickly develops a connection with Perry, though their differing approaches to rules sometimes cause friction.

Daunis is the twins' older cousin, though they respect her as an aunt. Deeply protective and scarred by past trauma involving an assault on tribal land, she is hyper-vigilant about the safety of the young women in her family. She uses her resources to get Perry into the internship program, hoping to keep her out of trouble.

Grant Edwards is a powerful white man who sits on the Mackinac board of trustees. A serial abuser, he deliberately uses legal loopholes to target Indigenous women on tribal land to avoid prosecution. He actively advocates for the local college to become a tribal institution, a move that would bring more vulnerable women into his sphere of influence.

Shense is a high school senior at the local alternative school and a teenage mother to her infant daughter, Washkeh. She is fiercely dedicated to her child and proves to be a loyal, grounded friend to Perry. Her knowledge of local security systems, courtesy of her father's casino job, makes her a valuable asset to her intern team.

Lucas is Perry and Pauline's oldest childhood friend, coming from a prominent Sugar Island family. Charismatic and extremely protective of the women in his life, he has faced personal tragedy with the past loss of his older sister, Lily. He uses his physical capabilities and fierce loyalty to support the twins throughout their internship challenges.

Stormy is a traditional healer for the Sugar Island Ojibwe Tribe. Following a difficult past involving a meth cell and a subsequent prison sentence, he has become silent and solitary. He speaks exclusively in Ojibwemowin prayers, but despite his eccentric reputation, Perry deeply respects his profound cultural knowledge.

Cooper is Perry's internship mentor and the manager of the cultural museum. Passionate about returning ancestral remains to the Anishinaabeg, he firmly believes in following strict legal and bureaucratic processes to achieve repatriation. This patient, rule-bound approach frequently clashes with Perry's desire for immediate, direct action against the institutions holding their artifacts.

Web is a tribal subchief who becomes Perry's supervisor after she is reassigned from the museum. He is outwardly supportive of Perry's passion, encouraging her to pursue an independent study project regarding missing cultural artifacts. He expresses frustration with institutional red tape, creating a bond with Perry over their shared desire to recover stolen history.

Dr. Fenton is an anthropology professor at Mackinac State College. She oversees a massive collection of Indigenous remains and artifacts but constantly delays their repatriation, citing a lack of resources to properly inventory them. She views the Anishinaabe cultural items through a detached, scientific lens, storing ancestral remains in disrespectful conditions.

Dr. Leer-wah is an anthropologist at Mackinac State College who works alongside Dr. Fenton. He takes over the repatriation team early in the summer, expressing an eager desire to successfully return the ancestors to the Tribe within a year. His intense fascination with the remains and tendency to call them "his" unsettles Perry.

Frank Lockhart is a wealthy private collector who owns a local tourist-trap store called Teepees-n-Trinkets, which is filled with offensive racial stereotypes. Because his massive collection of Indigenous artifacts and remains was allegedly acquired before 1990, he avoids federal repatriation laws, making him a major legal obstacle to the Tribe's reclamation efforts.

Chief Manitou is the elected leader of the Tribal Council. A wealthy showman who wears designer suits and large onyx medallions, his performative actions often cater to outside anthropologists rather than honoring authentic traditions. His boundary-crossing behavior with young female interns raises immediate red flags for Daunis.

Claire is the highly organized director of the summer internship program. She oversees the weekly team challenges, pushing the interns to excel while keeping track of their progress and rewarding their successes. She harbors a complicated family history tied to the local area's private collectors.

Warrior Girl is the ancestral remains of an Indigenous teenager from centuries past, currently held captive in the university's storage. She serves as a profound spiritual anchor for Perry. Her legacy and unfulfilled rest drive Perry's relentless pursuit of justice, often appearing to Perry in dreams to offer guidance.

Elvis Junior is Perry's loyal, part-bloodhound dog. With a keen sense of smell and a deep bond with his owner, he assists her in tracking missing persons and provides constant companionship during her outdoor excursions across Sugar Island.