Fleur

Fleur, a Chippewa woman with magical powers, is described as having beautiful features including a muscular upper body and sly brown eyes. Fleur also has curved white teeth, like an animal’s, as well as just four toes on her feet. These features are hidden to all but Pauline. Because of this, the men in Argus underestimate her, unlike the men at Lake Turcot who fear her because of the powers they know she possesses. Pauline describes Fleur as a shapeshifter, noting the rumors that Fleur could hunt at night in a body that was not her own, evinced by Fleur’s tracks being replaced by those of an animal.

It is unclear exactly why Fleur moves to Argus or why she returns to Lake Turcot, but Erdrich emphasizes Fleur’s power and mysticism in both locations. In Argus, the men, Lily in particular, become obsessed with her. At Lake Turcot, she is feared because of her ability to survive death by water, and the subsequently fatal effect on those who attempt to save her. Fleur may be in league or in love with Misshepeshu, the water man, a dangerous, shape-shifting mythical figure in several Indigenous American traditions.