Thomas Wazhashk
Thomas is the title character of the novel and works as a night watchman for a factory that produces gemstones used for drilling by the Department of Defense. He is a devoted husband and father and has been married to his wife Rose for 33 years. The "emancipation" bill disturbs him, and he works diligently day and night to sound the alarm and organize tribal people together to resist the bill. He works through the night writing letters to potential allies and decision-makers as well as researching the bill and its author, Congressman Arthur V. Watkins, who is Mormon. The novel explores different moments of ups and downs while working at the factory. He is fully devoted to his wife Rose. They have a beautiful family together. Thomas is a natural leader as he takes part in political organizations.
Patrice "Pixie" Paranteau
Pixie, who insists on being called "Patrice," is a young intelligent, strong, and independent Chippewa woman and the primary breadwinner in her family.
She is also Thomas’ niece. She also works at the factory but as a manual worker. She is a fierce young woman who dares to be the wildest among the wild. In the novel, she’s in search of her missing sister. This search drives her to the edges of her life as she discovers herself as a young woman.
Rose Wazhashk
Rose is Thomas’ wife and mother to their children, including Sharlo, Fee, and Wade, who live in the house, and three older children, Lawrence, Archie, and Ray, who have moved out. Her mother, Noko, also lives with them. Like Thomas, she is constantly working and laboring, mostly within the domestic sphere. She packs the hot coffee and food that Thomas relies upon to sustain him through his night shift as watchman.
Juggie Blue
Juggie is the mother of Wood Mountain and an excellent cook. She works as a cook and caretaker of the schoolteachers and gives advice to the younger generation.
Vera Paranteau
She is Patrice's older sister who moved to Minneapolis and has gone missing. She had always been someone whom Patrice had looked up to as a source of wisdom and lightness in a household oppressed by their drunk father.
Wood Mountain
He is a young Chippewa boxer who nurses a crush on Patrice for most of the book. He is described as muscular and lean. He becomes particularly affectionate and takes care of Vera's baby when Patrice brings him home from Minneapolis.
Lloyd Barnes
Nicknamed "Hay Stack" among the Chippewa because of his thick blonde hair, Barnes is a white man and boxing instructor on the reservation. He trains Wood Mountain and has his eyes on Patrice, who is uninterested in him.
LaBatte
LaBette is a friend of Thomas and works as the evening janitor at the jewel bearing factory. He is a superstitious person and gets freaked out when Thomas mentions that he has been seeing an owl at the factory, as owls are signs of deaths.
Moses Montrose
Moses is a 65-year-old Chippewa tribal judge described as "small, spare, carefully groomed."
Pokey Paranteau
Pokey is the younger brother of Pixie.
Vernon and Elnath
They are Mormon missionaries trying to convince the Chippewa that they are "Lamanites," sinful people cursed by God with darker skin but who, if they repent their barbaric ways, would be welcomed back into the fold, symbolized by their whitening skin.
Louis Pipestone
Louis is a tribal elder and works very hard to collect signatures for a petition protesting the Indian termination.
Harry Roy
He is a retired army medic who picks up Vera on the side of the highway and brings her home to take care of her.
Doris Lauder
Doris is a female colleague of Patrice at the factory. She drives Patrice to work every day and is jealous of the amorous attention that Patrice receives from men.
Millie Cloud
Millie is an early career Chippewa academic living alone and working in Twin Cities, Minnesota. She is connected to the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa through her father, Louis Pipestone. She was raised by her single white mother and is largely assimilated in white American culture but retains a strong identification with her indigenous heritage.
