Fleur

“It went to show, my grandma said. It figured to her, all right. By saving Fleur Pillager, those two men had lost themselves.” 

After describing the first drowning Fleur survived, Pauline appeals to the expertise of her grandmother. This quotation highlights both the oral storytelling tradition that Pauline practices, as well as Fleur’s power as a survivor. Additionally, the quotation hints at the lack of objectivity provided by Pauline; the information she hears about Fleur’s early days is secondhand.

“He’s a thing of dry foam, a thing of death by drowning, the death a Chippewa cannot survive.”

Pauline uses parallel structure to describe Misshepeshu, the water man, and death by water as a terrifying fate for the Chippewa. That Fleur survives it twice suggests that she has powers beyond the mortal realm either because she is cursed or in conspiracy with him. To Pauline, Fleur’s power can be seen as both good and bad as all power is the story is presented as dual-natured.

“She laid the heart of an owl on her tongue so she could see at night, and went out, hunting, not even in her own body.” 

Pauline notes that Fleur’s second drowning changes her and that she acquires supernatural powers. She is said to embrace charms and dark Chippewa arts while also being able to shapeshift into an animal. This shapeshifting is a theme of the work, as Fleur is never exactly what she seems; only Pauline can see her animal nature as well as her human nature.