The points of view and events depicted by both narrators reveal their agendas. Nanapush begins narrating the novel as the second epidemic wipes out whole families, leaving many orphaned children as well as single adults, like Nanapush, who have lost their wives and children.
In two back-to-back epidemics-first smallpox and then tuberculosis-along with a treaty limiting their movement and assigning each clan an allotment of land, the Chippewa people were nearly wiped out by disease and starvation. Nanapush becomes a trusted and respected tribal elder, while Pauline becomes a Catholic nun whom many believe to be insane.
Covering the years from 1912 to 1924, the events depicted through the two narrators’ visions both echo and contradict each other. Two narrators alternate to tell the story of twelve years in the history of the tribe: Nanapush, a tribal elder, and Pauline, a young orphan girl.
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