Pelajia
Pelajia is a 53-year-old woman who lives on the reserve and is sister to Philomena and half-sister to Marie-Adele, Annie, and Emily. She is proficient with a hammer as she works as a contractor, and uses it all the time. She wants to leave the reservation, as her sons and husband live and work in other cities, but feels trapped there. She is serious and grounded, and wants what is best for herself and her community.
Philomena
Philomena is Pelajia's sister, and is much more feminine that Pelajia, dressing in skirts and heels. She was once in love with her boss in Toronto and he got her pregnant during an extramarital affair. Unlike Pelajia, she is more content with life on the reserve, and does not dream of an urban existence. She wins $600 in Toronto playing bingo and purchases a new toilet with the money.
Marie-Adele
Marie-Adele is Annie's sister, but steals Annie's boyfriend, Eugene, from her. Marie-Adele has fourteen kids with him, but has developed cervical cancer and can no longer have sexual intercourse. She is afraid to die, as she fears her kids will have to go into the foster care system if her husband's drinking worsens.
Annie
Annie is another woman on the reserve. She is very proud of her daughter, Ellen, who has a white, French boyfriend named Raymond. She was in love with Eugene once but Marie-Adele ended up marrying him. She loves music and singing, and eventually gets work singing backup to Fritz, a country-rock singer with whom she is in love.
Emily
Emily is Annie's sister and the toughest of the women. She was in an abusive marriage many years ago, but she left her husband and joined a women's motorcycle gang in San Francisco. Then her lover committed suicide in front of her, which prompted her to return to the reservation. She is tough and somewhat cynical, but loving and loyal.
Veronique
Veronique is sister-in-law to all of the above women. She has adopted Zhaboonigan as her daughter. She loves to cook and wants to buy a new stove with her bingo winnings, so that she can write a cookbook.
Zhaboonigan
Zhaboonigan is the adopted daughter of Veronique. She is mentally disabled, and was brutally raped by two white boys with a screwdriver in the past. She sees Nanabush, the trickster spirit, more clearly than the others in the play, and becomes very close with Emily during the trip to Toronto.
