Content Warning: This section includes depictions of anti-Indigenous oppression, settler colonialism, graphic violence, murder, and death. It quotes pejorative and dated language to describe Indigenous people used in the source material.

Nathan is the protagonist and the narrator. He is 11 years old, and he has a younger sister, Molly, who’s nine. Nathan and Molly are strong and independent. When their father goes missing, they maintain the farm, with Nathan undertaking the typically masculine roles. Nathan says, “I chopped wood and kept the fire going. Molly made bread and stew” (5). Pa tells Nathan, “[Y]ou’re the man of the house when I’m away” (6). The ascribed traits of manliness become an issue for Nathan. He wants to cry over his father’s disappearance, but as a boy, he feels like he can’t show emotion. Masculinity also partly propels his quest to kill Weasel. He sees Weasel as the primary creator of suffering among the people he cares about, and as a boy, he feels like he must eradicate Weasel and the pain that he represents for both Indigenous people and white settlers.

Pa combats Nathan’s notions of gender when he asks his son, “Where did you ever learn that pulling a trigger is what makes a man brave?” (92).