Nanapush
One of the book’s two narrators is an older Native American grandfather who is relating to his grown granddaughter a little family history. While primarily honest and objective, Nanapush is revealed to have an agenda behind his narrative: it is time for the young woman to make amends with the fact that her mother abandoned her. Nanapush is pushing the policy that his granddaughter will find greater happiness if she jettisons the hatred she feels toward her estranged mother.
Fleur Pillager
Fleur Pillager has become something of a living legend after supposedly dying twice and killing twice. In addition to being a medicine woman, she is the mother whom Lulu hates. Pauline Puyat isn't exactly crazy about Fleur, either, but Fleur dismisses Pauline as a liar. A key story in the early life of Fleur varies on the details according to who is telling it: Fleur herself or Pauline who was the only witness.
Lulu
Lulu is Fleur’s daughter, but the question of her paternity remains an open question. She may have been conceived when Fleur was raped or maybe not. The only person who seems to have a firm take on the tale is notoriously unreliable. Lulu he has rejected the tribal ways of her culture and has embraced modern dress and is being urged by her grandfather to make amends with her mother in order to avoid marrying the wrong man.
Pauline Puyat
Pauline is the other narrator of the book, but not nearly as reliable and trustworthy as Nanapush. Her story is basically her own, reflecting her self-centered view of the world where Nanapush’s narration is able to tell the stories of various other characters through the literary device of dramatic monologue. Pauline is of mixed-blood. Her plan to become a nun is inconvenienced by a pregnancy out of wedlock.
Napoleon Morrissey
The father of Pauline’s baby is Napoleon Morrissey. Pauline’s condition and situation have led her toward the brink of a mental breakdown and in her madness she kills Napoleon in a state of confusion in which she sees him as the incarnation of evil.
