Iron Lake

Molly is “a beautiful woman, large-boned and strong, ten years younger than Cork, though she’d taken such good care of herself—didn’t smoke, didn’t drink, didn’t eat red meat—that she looked even younger” (19). She is Cork’s love interest and he has been seeing her since his separation from Jo; however, Cork himself doesn’t realize how deep his feelings are for Molly until after he breaks things off with her.

Molly represents delight in bodily pleasure. She has had a difficult time in Aurora, disparaged for her sexual history. However, she doesn’t let this affect her self-esteem or self-respect: She knows that people refer to her as “that shameless slut,” but tells Cork, “It doesn’t bother me” (14). Molly thrives in the natural environment of northern Minnesota—she skis to work and talks about how “she loved to push her body, to feel how strong it was” (97). She takes good care of her body, “eschewing caffeine and alcohol especially” (97). Molly’s self-respect also extends to her relationship with Cork: When he breaks up with her, she tells him that she wants “[t]o feel needed. To feel that you need me as much as you need air to breathe. I’m worth that” (226).

As a descendant of Finnish immigrants Molly also exemplifies one of the immigrant legacies that have shaped the culture of northern Minnesota. Her love of her sauna and the icy plunge afterward, and her reliance on her cross-country skis for transportation both speak to Finnish heritage.

Molly’s death provides most of the novel’s pathos. Cork and Molly are making plans for a new future when she becomes Sandy Parrant’s murder victim; her death pushes Cork into almost becoming the Windigo as he faces down Sandy.

Cork’s wife Jo is “a rigorously slender woman. She had hair so blonde it was almost white and eyes blue-white like glacial ice” (25). Recently, Jo asked Cork for a divorce. They have been estranged for the last year, but during the novel, Cork discovers that she was having an affair with Sandy before separating from Cork. Cork’s conflict with Jo and his feelings about her relationship with Sandy are sources of tension.

Jo is a sharply intelligent and uncompromisingly straightforward lawyer. In the 10 years since she moved to Aurora with Cork, she has built her business despite Cork’s warning that “things would be difficult; she was an outsider and a woman” (26). Jo’s firm works with both the Anishinaabe and white clients. Trusted and respected, Jo is an integral part of both local communities.

In the end, Jo shows that although she may not want to stay in her marriage to Cork, she still loves him and is concerned for his safety; she is also firmly committed to moral and ethical integrity and rejects Sandy’s self-dealing. In the climactic conflict between Cork and Sandy, Jo comes through for Cork, shooting at and sending Sandy’s truck off course and saving Cork’s life.

Henry Meloux is an Anishinaabe elder, and a member of Midewiwin, the Grand Medicine Society devoted to Anishinaabe spiritual practices and healing. He lives alone in a cabin on Crow Point, an isolated shore of Iron Lake. When he first appears in the novel, Henry is trudging through a snowstorm “walking most of the day in the blizzard to have come so near to town” (20). Despite his age, Henry is fit and independent, even as most of the locals tend to underestimate him. Throughout the novel, Henry becomes Cork’s confidante and mentor. In addition, Henry is a source of information, offering a traditional Anishinaabe perspective on the events of the novel. Henry often spiritually counsels Cork in much the same way that Tom Griffin does.

Henry’s connection to the novel’s light supernatural elements allows him to hear the Windigo call out names, warning of potential victims, such as Russell Blackwater. Henry counsels Cork about his anger, warning him against becoming the Windigo—about losing his humanity in the hunt for revenge. He is patient with Cork, who goes from seeing him as just an old man to holding him in deep respect. At the end of the novel, after Henry has saved both Jo and Cork’s lives, Cork sees Henry “suddenly in a kind of vision, as if beholding in the long black shadow the real Meloux, a great hunter spirit, silent and powerful” (428).

Tom, who is a Catholic priest “nearing forty, a man of enormous goodwill and energy” (65), doesn’t act or dress like a stereotypical priest; he “preferred to wear blue jeans and flannel shirts and hiking boots” (65). He is an easily recognizable figure in the local landscape because of his chosen mode of transportation: “In the summer he could be seen cutting along the back roads of the reservation on a huge, old Kawasaki motorcycle. In winter, he generally used the Kawasaki snowmobile. As a result, he was affectionately known on the reservation as St. Kawasaki” (65).

Before Tom came to the Iron Lake area, he was on a mission in Central America and was imprisoned for political reasons. Tom doesn’t share much about his history there, but his eye patch speaks to a painful history. Now, Tom is involved in reviving the Catholic mission on the Iron Lake reservation. Tom is invested in rewriting the painful relationship between the Catholic church and the reservation. Tom’s commitment to the Iron Lake Anishinaabe community is illustrated through his helping Darla and hiding Paul. However, his actions are complicated by the fact he is personally and morally compromised: Tom and Wanda Manydeeds are sleeping together, and he is most likely her baby Makwa’s father.

Wally Schanno is the sheriff of Tamarack County, elected after Cork’s recall. He is honest and well thought of in Tamarack County. In his mid-fifties, “he [is] tall and lean, had hollow cheeks, thick pale lips, and a nose like a big ragged chunk of granite shoved into his face” (55). Although Wally is the sheriff, he often defers to Cork and involves him in his investigations, showing his understanding of Cork’s competence and integrity.

Wally’s wife, Arletta, is “a woman of rare beauty. Long black hair with flares of brilliant silver, blue-summer-sky eyes, and the most perfect smile Cork had ever seen” (56). Arletta has early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, and throughout the novel, Wally feels the pressure of both his work and of keeping Arletta safe and providing for her expensive care. Caring for Arletta and worrying about her future makes Wally susceptible to corruption and paves the way for his involvement in GameTech. Krueger uses Wally as an example of how an otherwise ethical and honest person can be coerced to do unethical things.