The Birchbark House

Omakayas, the book’s protagonist, is a seven-year-oldgirl with “shining brown eyes and a wide grin” (5). Her name means “Little Frog” because her first step was a hop. Omakayas has complex relationships with her siblings. She admires Angeline and hopes “that she herself would turn out like Angeline” (10), but she also envies her beautiful sister. Omakayas has a low opinion of her mischievous brother Pinch, and after Neewo’s death, she finds herself wondering “why Neewo was taken and Pinch left behind” (159). Omakayas adores and dotes upon her baby brother Neewo, and his death sends her into a deep depression. Omakayas also enjoys a particularly close relationship with her grandmother, Nokomis, with whom she shares a spiritual gift.

Omakayas has an affinity for animals and appears to be able to communicate with them. She befriends a family of bears and senses that they are her protectors. Later, a bear spirit woman visits her in a ritual dream. Omakayas also experiences dizzy spells that show she is “special to the spirits” (38). Omakayas begins to show skill with healing when she nurses her family through the smallpox outbreak. When she later asks the bears to share their medicine with her, she finds that the plants of the forest speak to her, and she expertly heals her brother’s wounds.