Character List for Iron Lake

The O’Connors

Corcoran “Cork” O’Connor—the protagonist; ¼ Anishinaabe (Ojibwe); the former sheriff in Aurora, Minnesota; may or may not have heard the Windigo call his name

Nancy Jo O’Connor—Cork’s wife (although they are currently separated) and a local lawyer, often representing the Anishinaabe, but currently managing Sandy Parrant’s legal affairs

Rose—Jo’s unmarried older sister who lives with the O’Connors and manages the household

Jenny O’Connor—the O’Connor’s 14-year-old daughter

Anne O’Connor—the O’Connor’s 11-year-old daughter

Stevie O’Connor—the O’Connor’s 5-year-old son

Molly Nurmi—waitress at Johnny’s Pinewood Broiler and Cork’s love interest

The Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) and Families

Sam Winter Moon—a friend of Cork’s father, mentor to Cork after Cork’s father died, and former owner of Sam’s Place, which he left to Cork when he died

Henry Meloux—aka “Mad Mel”; an elder and Midewiwin (medicine man) who’s said to know how to kill a Windigo

Ernie Meloux—Henry’s nephew; works at the Chippewa Grand Casino, attaching inventory tags to equipment

Wanda Manydeeds—a member of the tribal council and activist for the Anishinaabe; also a Midewiwin

Joe John LeBeau—Wanda’s brother and Darla’s husband; a former Aurora High School basketball star whose college career was cut short by injury; after an off-again-on-again history of drink, he’d vanished a couple of months earlier

Darla LeBeau—Joe John’s wife, who initially reports their son, Paul, missing but then seems uninterested in getting law enforcement involved

Paul LeBeau—Joe John’s and Darla’s 14-year-old son who goes missing at the end of his newspaper route in a snowstorm

Vernon Blackwater—recently deceased chairman of the tribal council and operator of a lumber mill on the Iron Lake Reservation

Russell Blackwater—Vernon’s son, a former militant member of AIM (American Indian Movement); now the manager of the Chippewa Grand Casino; may or may not have heard the Windigo call his name

Aurora “Officials” and Other Residents

Judge Robert Parrant—wealthy retired judge; found dead by apparent suicide in the opening chapters

Sandy Parrant—the judge’s son and newly elected U.S. Senator representing Minnesota; he has a goal of running for President in six years

Stuart “Stu” Grantham—a realtor, a “property consultant” for Game Tech, and a member of county board of commissioners (a probable conflict of interest)

Wally Schanno—the current sheriff of Aurora who was elected after a recall vote ousted Cork; also (in a probable conflict of interest) has a contract to provide security for Game Tech

Arletta Schanno—Wally’s wife, currently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s

Ed Larson—captain and longest-serving member of the sheriff’s office

Cy Borkmann—deputy in sheriff’s office

Jack Wozniak—young rookie officer in sheriff’s office

Sigurd Nelson—a mortician and the current county coroner (an elected position) although he has no forensics experience; also (in a probable conflict of interest) a “personnel consultant” with Game Tech

Father Tom Griffin—aka St. Kawasaki; a priest who came to town about 1.5 years ago to help Father Kelsey at the Catholic Church

Ellie Gruber—Father Kelsey’s housekeeper at the rectory

Helmuth “Hell” Hanover—editor of the local newspaper, The Aurora Sentinel; his reporting seems to be fair, but his editorials lean against Cork; also, he has sympathies with the Minnesota Civilian Brigade (a militia-type group that opposes “preferential” treatment of Native Americans)

Harlan Lytton—a loner with a troubled past whose mother used to work for Judge Parrant; owns a mean dog called Jack the Ripper; may or may not have heard the Windigo call his name

Arnold Stanley—an Aurora resort owner whom Cork had shot during a standoff over Iron Lake fishing rights between the Anishinaabe and Aurora; this event had led to Cork’s being recalled as sheriff