Toko is the youngest child of Hemi and Roimata; however, Mary is his biological mother. Although the family suspect a regular summer visitor to the area of having taken advantage of Mary and getting her pregnant, it is suggested at the end of the novel that Toko's conception may have been a somewhat miraculous result of Mary's love for the last poupou made by the carver who built her people's meeting house. Roimata and Hemi frequently refer to Toko as "a gift." This is no doubt partly because of the extraordinary way he entered the world—no one, not even Mary, realized she was pregnant when she gave birth and, having been born in the sea, Toko narrowly escaped drowning—and also because of the innate knowledge of his people's stories that he is born with, as well as his ability to see into the future.

Toko believes that his "understanding" is "more than ordinary" (55) for a 5-year-old to compensate for his physical disabilities, which become increasingly debilitating as the novel progresses and, as everyone is aware, mean that he will not reach adulthood. However, it is likely that he has inherited this knowledge from his supernatural father who, as the people's carver, had a vast amount of knowledge and an extraordinary ability for storytelling.