Xavier Bird
Niska’s nephew and Elijah’s best friend. Xavier is the protagonist in Three Day Road, and he is the personification of Native Cree culture. Xavier’s mother abandons him at the residential school when…
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Elijah Whiskeyjack
Xavier’s best friend and the antagonist in Three Day Road. Elijah’s mother dies of a “coughing sickness” when Elijah is a small boy, and he goes to live with the nuns at the…
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Niska
Xavier’s aunt and Rabbit’s sister. Niska is the hookimaw, or spiritual leader, or her clan, and she is “the second to last in a long line of windigo killers.” After Niska’s father…
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Micah’s Wife
Micah’s wife goes into the bush to survive with her husband and baby during a harsh winter, but game is scarce everywhere, and Micah can’t feed them. As they slowly stave in the Canadian bush…
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Niska’s Father
Father to Niska and Rabbit, and “the last great talker of [their] clan. Niska’s father told many stories when Niska was young, and he also served as the clan’s hookimaw (spiritual leader). Niska’s father…
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Get the entire Three Day Road LitChart as a printable PDF.
Lieutenant Breech
An officer in the Canadian Army during World War I and part of Xavier and Elijah’s unit. The men in Xavier and Elijah’s unit refer to Lieutenant Breech as “Bastard Breech,” as he is…
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Grey Eyes
A soldier in the Canadian Army and part of Elijah and Xavier’s unit. Grey Eyes is addicted to morphine, and he first introduces Elijah to the drug on the ship to Europe to fight…
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Niska’s Mother
Mother to Niska and Rabbit and grandmother to Xavier. After Niska’s father dies, Niska’s mother teaches Niska the “old ways” and “the magic deep in the bush that is real.” She teaches Niska about…
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Micah
A young Cree hunter. Micah takes his wife and baby into the bush to survive during a harsh winter. Game is scarce, however, and Micah and his family continue to starve. Micah becomes “desperate” and…
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Peggy
An Indigenous soldier in the Canadian Army during World War I. Peggy is an Ojibwe and a sniper, and while he has well over one hundred kills, Peggy’s commanding officers will not give him credit…
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The Wemistikoshiw Trapper
A French trapper. Niska comes across the wemistikoshiw trapper in the woods, and he follows her back to her lodge. They make love and have a longstanding relationship. One night, a local awawatuk (Indigenous hunter)…
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Corporal Thompson
An officer in the Canadian Army and part of Xavier and Elijah’s unit. Thompson is kind to Xavier and Elijah, unlike Lieutenant Breech, and he teaches them all about life in the trenches…
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Sergeant McCaan
An officer in the Canadian Army during World War I, and part of Elijah and Xavier’s unit. Like Corporal Thompson, Sergeant McCaan is kind to Elijah and Xavier, and he excuses Elijah’s boastful…
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The Girl/Lisette
A prostitute near Saint-Eloi in France. Elijah tricks Xavier and tells him that Lisette is the daughter of an estaminet owner, and Xavier begins to fall in love with her. Xavier has sex with Lisette…
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The Old Indian Woman
An old Indian woman who lives in Moose Factory. When Niska goes to Moose Factory to find the wemistikoshiw trapper, the people stare at her in disgust. Women call away their children and men…
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Joseph Netmaker
A Cree man living in Moose Factory. Joseph Netmaker grew up in Moose Factory and was forced by the nuns at the residential school to read and write English, so he helps Niska write a…
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Francis
A soldier in the French Army during World War I. Elijah meets Francis in a wrecked French town, where Francis tells Elijah about Peggy, an Indian sniper who isn’t given credit for his kills…
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The Indian
An Ojibwe soldier in the Canadian military during World War I. Elijah and Xavier meet the Indian in a pub in the French village of Lens—the only other Anishnabe they meet during the war—and he…
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Old Man Ferguson
The proprietor of the trading post in Moose Factory. Ferguson’s trading post is a hotbed of local gossip, and he gets all the latest news from the battlefields as well as the names of soldiers…
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Rabbit
Niska’s sister and Xavier’s mother. Rabbit goes to the residential school in Moose Factory and is transformed into Anne. As Anne, Rabbit rejects her Native identity and embraces wemistikoshiw (European) culture. She begins…
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Colquhoun
An officer in the Canadian military during World War I. Colquhoun is sent to Elijah and Xavier’s unit after Sergeant McCaan is killed in battle. Colquhoun doesn’t care for Elijah, and he doesn’t turn…
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Minor Characters
Gilberto
A soldier in the Canadian Army during World War I. Gilberto is Italian, and Xavier is “fond” of him because Gilberto’s English is poor, just like Xavier’s, when he first joins the military. Gilberto is killed near the end of the war.
Sean Patrick
A Canadian sniper in Elijah and Xavier’s unit during World War I. Sean Patrick is killed at his sniping post when he is shot by a German sniper because Sean Patrick’s spotter, Grey Eyes, is high on morphine.
Driscoll
The medical officer in Elijah’s unit. Elijah must go to Driscoll with medical excuses and complaints of pain to supply his morphine addition.
Graves
A Canadian soldier in Elijah and Xavier’s unit during World War I.
Smithy
A Canadian sniper in World War I. Smithy is the first person to tell Elijah about Peggy, an Indian sniper with an unbeatable record.
Fat
A Canadian soldier in Elijah and Xavier’s unit during World War I.
