Ojibwa implies she eventually reunites with the tribe. Her name, along with her mother's, is passed down to future daughters of the tribe.

Zosie Roy, married to Augustus Roy, and her sister, Mary, are identical twins. Although Augustus is wed to Zosie, he also attempts to pursue an affair with Mary. Issues arise when he struggles to distinguish between the two women during intimate moments. Initially, Augustus can tell them apart by the direction of their hair "whirlwinds," but the twins have conflicting feelings about their relationship with him. Each desires to be recognized for her individuality, yet they refuse to allow Augustus the means to do so. To prevent him from identifying them by their hair, they style it in new patterns. When Augustus gifts Zosie a gold ring, she perceives its intent and wears it only once. Augustus then tries to mark each sister by burning them to create a distinguishing scar, but his "accidents" never leave a lasting mark. Missing the bond of "twinship," Mary and Zosie resent the separation Augustus has caused. Ultimately, when Augustus, in frustration, nearly bites off Zosie's earlobe during an intimate encounter, the sisters retaliate by making him disappear, possibly by consuming him.

In their later years, Zosie and Mary's reluctance to be identified extends to Rozina Whiteheart Beads and her daughter, Cally. There are numerous rumors surrounding their presence and whereabouts, making it extremely difficult for Cally to locate them, determine whom she is speaking to, or even identify her true grandmother. Both women create decorative beadwork, and as Erdrich illustrates their weaving and sewing, they resemble the mythical bead workers of the Ojibwa legends.

Klaus Shawano, brother to Frank and Cecille Shawano and husband to Sweetheart Calico, is one of the most prominent first-person narrators in Erdrich's novel, with four out of the 23 narratives offering his romantic viewpoint. Born during World War II, Klaus was named after a German prisoner of war. Readers first encounter Klaus at a powwow where he works part-time as a trader, selling jewelry and crafts. Upon seeing Sweetheart Calico and her three adult daughters, Klaus feels a powerful longing akin to romantic love, driven by both attraction and the obstacles between them. By using various lures, Klaus separates the mother from her daughters and takes her east to Minneapolis, symbolically binding her with the fabric known as sweetheart calico. Sweetheart Calico becomes, in part, Klaus's captive and, in part, a prisoner of the city. Their mutually destructive love leads both to alcoholism. After losing his job at an Indian-owned sanitation company, Klaus leads a transient life under freeway overpasses when Sweetheart Calico leaves him. However, when a sober Klaus assists his wife in leaving Minneapolis for the west, he liberates himself from alcoholism and frees her from a city life that stifles her spirit.

Sweetheart Calico, the mother of three daughters and wife to Klaus Shawano, holds even greater significance as one of the antelope women. According to Jimmy Badger, an elder medicine man, such women "appear and disappear. Some men follow the antelope and lose their minds." When Klaus Shawano takes her from a western powwow to Minneapolis, he separates her not only from her daughters but also from the land and life she cherishes. The only remedy for their consuming yet destructive love, Klaus's alcoholism, and Sweetheart Calico's unhappiness is Klaus's decision to grant her freedom. Through tears, Klaus watches her "slender back, quick legs" and "staggered leaps" as Sweetheart Calico returns to the western wilderness, which saves her from the overwhelming focus on the commodification of life in materialistic Minneapolis.

Rozina Whiteheart Beads is one of the rare Erdrich characters who navigates the journey from an Indian reservation to a white city successfully. She first becomes a teacher and later a lawyer. Rozina initially marries Richard Whiteheart Beads, but they eventually divorce, and she later marries Frank Shawano. With Richard, Rozina has twin daughters: Deanna, who tragically dies in childhood, and Cally. When Frank is diagnosed with cancer and not expected to survive, Rozina decides to stay with him and care for him through his illness. Meanwhile, a distraught Richard attempts suicide by inhaling carbon monoxide from his truck. Although he changes his mind and leaves the vehicle, Deanna climbs inside, falls asleep, and tragically dies. Rozina holds both Richard and herself responsible for Deanna's death. She distances herself from both Richard and Frank, who eventually recovers from cancer. Many years later, she marries Frank, but on their wedding night, Richard takes his own life. Despite the trauma of her daughter's death and Richard's suicide, Rozina's marriage with Frank thrives. Her presence stirs a profound passion in both men, akin to the passion the antelope women inspire in those who love them.

Frank Shawano, the older sibling of Klaus and Cecille, becomes Rozina Whiteheart Beads' second husband. During World War II, the Ojibwa tribe captures a German prisoner of war, intending to kill him in retribution for the loss of one of their own. However, the German bakes a blitzkuchen, a cake so delectable that the tribe not only spares his life but also adopts him. This cake becomes Frank's ideal when he later becomes a baker. He attempts to recreate it many times, achieving his best blitzkuchen as the wedding cake for his own marriage, when he realizes the missing ingredient is fear. Frank is often depicted as feeding others, showcasing his gift for love in his relationships with Rozina, his brother Klaus, Klaus's wife Sweetheart Calico, and Rozina's children. He supports others while maintaining their dignity. Although cancer temporarily dampens his joyful spirit, it is revived when Rozina surprises him with a deeply personal anniversary gift, coinciding with a surprise party he has planned for her.

Richard Whiteheart Beads, Rozina's first husband and father to Deanna and Cally, worked as a sanitation engineer. When Richard falsely incriminates Klaus for illegal dumping on tribal land, Klaus is wrongly detained by federal authorities. Upon discovering Rozina's intention to leave him for Frank, Richard's obsession with her and his drunken antics inadvertently lead to Deanna's accidental death. While planning to suffocate himself, Deanna tragically dies from asphyxiation after hiding in a truck running in his garage. Richard accepts responsibility for Deanna's death, and the combination of guilt and separation from Rozina drives him to alcoholism. Years later, when Frank and Rozina finally wed, Richard disrupts their wedding with another failed suicide attempt, nearly jumping off a cliff. On the night of their wedding, Richard succeeds in ending his life by shooting himself at the hotel door of the newlyweds. With Deanna gone and Rozina leaving him, Richard's fate is seemingly sealed, though he chooses this path. As the novel's omniscient narrator remarks, Richard "would have died in his sleep on his eighty-fifth birthday, sober, of a massive stroke, had his self-directed pistol shot glanced a centimeter higher."

Cally Whiteheart Beads, who adopts the name Cally Roy at eighteen, is Deanna's twin sister. Deeply mourning Deanna's loss, Cally nearly succumbs to an unnamed fever about a year after Deanna's death while living with her mother and grandmothers on the reservation. At eighteen, yearning for more independence, she moves in with Frank Shawano and works at his bakery. Her presence rekindles the relationship between her mother and Frank, leading to their eventual marriage. While staying with Frank, Cally forms a sisterly bond with Frank Shawano's younger sister, Cecille. Although Cecille, a kung fu instructor, is older than Cally, she partially fills the void left by Deanna. Like Klaus, Cally frequently narrates the story, providing four of the twenty-three narratives. She recounts her childhood discovery of her mother's secret life with Frank and, as a young adult, narrates her mother's reunion with Frank and the preparations for their wedding. Her effort to uncover the secret of her naming with her grandmothers reveals both her and Deanna's true names; she is Blue Prairie Woman, and Deanna is "Other Side of the Earth."

The story's most unconventional character and narrator is Cally's dog, "Almost Soup." Rescued by Cally's affection from becoming a meal, the dog humorously addresses an audience of his fellow canines with survival tips among the dog-eating Ojibwa. "Almost Soup" intertwines several themes in the story: hunger and unusual foods, such as father's milk, dog flesh, and human flesh; Cally's near-fatal illness after Deanna's death; and Rozina's reactions to both Deanna's death and Cally's illness.