Lillian Benojee / Mizhakwan
At the start of the novel, Lillian is described as a beautiful, lean, five-foot-six Anishnawbe woman, around 15 years old. Her father is dead, and she’s the oldest of eight children. Her Anishnawbe name is Mizhakwan, but her name is changed to Lillian at the residential school when she’s 15. She is in a romantic relationship with Nanabush.
In the main plot of the novel, Lillian Benojee is 76 years old and has 9 surviving children and 18 grandchildren, including Virgil. She’s the mother of the current chief of Otter Lake, Maggie Second. She loves both the old Trickster and Jesus Christ, saying there’s room for both of them. She’s opinionated, has a dry sense of humor, and wants her family to have a bit of the magic she loved. She dies in the first few pages of the main narrative, not long after Nanabush comes to say goodbye.
Maggie Second
Maggie is one of eight children of Lillian and has risen to take over the status of chief of Otter Lake, the First Nations community in which the story is set. She is a 35-year-old widow, and is beautiful, smart, and hardworking. She is currently stressed about the bureaucracy surrounding the land acquisition and wonders if she ought to quit. She hasn't dated since Clifford died and is thus interested when John starts to flirt with her. They begin a romantic relationship but his immaturity eventually wearies her. By the end of the novel, she has decided to adopt a more Zen approach to life, and even though she does not quit the chief position, she does commit to spending more time with her family.
The Stranger / John / Nanabush
He is the Trickster of legend who disappeared from the world after Lillian went away, but then returns when she calls him from her deathbed to help her daughter and grandson. He (re)appears as a handsome white man of 25-30 years old, with eyes that are sometimes blue, hazel, or green. He drives a majestic Indian Chief motorcycle and intrigues the entire community with his mysterious, playful mien. His presence brings both chaos and opportunities for growth to Maggie and Virgil and Dakota.
Wayne Benojee
The youngest (and favorite) child of Lillian, brother to Maggie, uncle to Virgil, he is 32 years old, wiry, strong, and dresses in worn clothing. He does not like being around a lot of people and has isolated himself on a small island in the lake where he practices his native version of martial arts, or his "training." He knows more Anishnawbe than most people do, and is the first to really understand who John might be. He fights John to a draw, and this experience working with his nephew and really testing his own powers seems to bring him back into the family fold.
Virgil Second
Virgil is the protagonist of the main part of the novel. He’s a 13-year-old, grade-seven student, trying to figure out who he is. His mother, Maggie Second, is the chief of Otter Lake, and he’s one of Lillian Benojee’s eighteen grandchildren. The previous chief, his father, died in a boating accident three years ago. He has no interest in becoming chief himself, and he’s a rather bored, uninterested kid at the start of the book, described as “a latch-key kid with no latch.” He skips school often, preferring to watch trains go by from a rock his grandmother showed him, imagining that one day he’ll get a ticket and go somewhere that’s not Otter Lake. The situation with John/Nanabush seems to profoundly challenge him, and we get the sense he's on his way to really growing up by the end of the novel.
Clifford Second
Clifford was Maggie's husband and Virgil's father, as well as the prior chief of Otter Lake. He died in a boating/fishing accident before the start of the novel (three years prior). He worked tirelessly for the tribe and thus often neglected his family.
Sam “Sammy” Aandeg
Sammy is Lillian’s cousin. At the start of the novel, he’s 13 years old and has been at the residential school since he was 5 years old, about 6 years before Lillian arrives at the school. He’s angry, and calls the residential school the Angry Place. Lillian tends to take care of him, knowing that “his nature was instinctively to wade against the current of any river.” He still speaks Anishnawbe and plans to escape and run home to the Otter Lake Reserve.
Sixty years later, in the main plot of the novel, he’s a strange, angry, dirty, drunk old man, considered to be crazy by everyone in Otter Lake. He only speaks Anishnawbe now, and only in iambic pentameter. He rubs his thumb and two fingers together at all times. Later, we learn that he was beaten every day for a decade at the residential school, and it’s implied he was raped or otherwise horrifically abused by Father McKenzie.
Dakota
Dakota is Virgil's cousin, who is two months older than him. Though Anishnawbe, her parents focused more on the Canadian side of history and did not school her in as much of the Native legends. She is thus very interested in Nanabush by the end of the novel, especially as she found him very attractive.
Wilie, Tim, Diane, Marie
They are some of Maggie's siblings and Lillian's children.
Ms. Weatherford
Virgil's teacher, she does not approve of his cutting class but she knows he is smart and wants him to succeed, and thus gives him a task of writing an essay so he can graduate.
Theresa and Elvira
They are Maggie's friends with whom she goes to the bar.
Dan
He is a man at the restaurant who John beats up when he criticizes John's motorcycle.
Crystal Denise Park
She is the Liberal MP for the county involved with the land acquisition. She is white, outgoing, and good at politics, but she has a rather condescending view of Native people. She is the mother of Kait, who works as her assistant but is not allowed to call her "Mom" because Crystal does not think it is professional.
Kait Park
Crystal's daughter, she works for her mother but is not allowed to call her "Mom" because Crystal does not think it is professional.
