Zhaanat Character Analysis

Zhaanat is Patrice’s mother. She makes baskets and beadwork, but she is a holder of traditional Chippewa knowledge and wisdom, and her real work is to pass on that knowledge to others who come to learn what she can teach. When Patrice returns from Minneapolis with Vera’s baby, Zhaanat helps to raise the child, and eventually produces milk to give to him. Before Vera returns, Zhaanat and Patrice begin having identical, painful dreams about her in which Vera is in danger. When Millie Cloud, a graduate student who was raised off the reservation, meets Zhaanat, she becomes interested in what she can learn from her. At the end of the novel, Millie has decided to study with Zhaanat and is in the process of trying to secure funding to make sure Zhaanat gets paid for that study.