Jemmy Stott
Jemmy is a young half-Native girl whose father asks if she would mind dropping out to get a job to support the family. She accepts because she felt like an outsider at that school anyway, and she's basically the only Native person in her class who hasn't already dropped out anyway. This story ends with Jemmy discovering her passion for art.
Father
This man is an Irish man who is also alcoholic and neglectful of his family. With no mother to speak of, Jemmy is basically the family's main support, because instead of getting healthy and finding a job, this father tells Jemmy to quit school and take care of her siblings so he doesn't have to.
Otis Chapman
This artist comes through Jemmy's town and the two serendipitously encounter each other. Otis is traveling with his wife to Minneapolis where he will paint a mural, and he asks Jemmy if she will model for his mural.
The principal
This character only appears in the sections of the story that pertain to Jemmy's experience of school, but he's important to mention because he helps define Jemmy's experience of school, and also authority. At home, there is no pretense of order, but at school Jemmy finds herself constantly at odds with this principal. The principal believes that Jemmy is intentionally wearing poor, dirty clothes because she is a dirty person. But she's actually just poor.
