Gran (Joan) in Sisters of the Lost Nation: Character Analysis
Overview: The Quiet Center of the Family and the Tribe's Memory
Gran (Joan) is Anna's grandmother, a stroke survivor who lives with Anna's family after the stroke left her needing daily care. She sleeps in the dining room, separated from the rest of the house by a bedsheet, and speaks with a slur that makes some words difficult. Despite her physical limitations, Gran emerges as one of the novel's most important emotional and cultural anchors for Anna. She carries tribal history and stories in her memory, and she recognizes something in Anna that few others see. Her presence in the novel is quiet but persistent: she is the one who tells Anna the Two Spirits story, the one who listens without judgment when Anna confesses her frustrations, and—in the epilogue—one of the elders who believes Anna can mend the tribe.
Gran's role in the plot is primarily supportive rather than action-driving. She doesn't investigate Grace's disappearance or confront the men at the resort. Instead, she provides Anna with the cultural framework and emotional grounding Anna needs to keep going. Her most significant plot contribution comes in Chapter 42, when she tells Anna the story of the Two Spirits ceremony—a story that helps Anna understand her own identity and her place in the tribe. In the epilogue, Gran is named among the tribal elders who support Anna's vision for a cultural, educational, and resource center, telling Anna she could mend the tribe and unite them in ways they haven't been united before.
Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions
Gran's actions reveal several consistent motivations:
Dignity and independence. After her stroke, Gran resists being treated as helpless. When Anna tries to help her to bed, Gran waves her away with a stubborn refusal—one of the few phrases she can say without slurring. In Chapter 29, she tries to give Chris a check to pay for her keep, saying she won't be a burden anymore. When Chris shoves it back and treats her like a child, Gran slams an apple against the counter and shouts a demand to be allowed to live. This moment crystallizes her central motivation: she refuses to be reduced to her disability.
Cultural preservation. Gran is a keeper of tribal stories and history. She tells Anna about the Two Spirits ceremony, about the discrimination she faced growing up, and about the balance between predator and prey. She recognizes Anna's connection to these stories, telling her she's not the only one fond of the tribal stories.
Perceptiveness. Gran sees things others miss. She tells Anna they're more alike than Anna might think, and notes that they have the same eyes. She recognizes that Grace has changed before Anna fully articulates it. She knows why Anna didn't propose the preservation society at the tribal council meeting, even though Anna never told her directly.
Resilience. Gran survived an era when Indigenous people were banned from movies and diners, denied schooling, and forced to sit in the back of churches. She describes this past without self-pity, using it to contextualize Anna's present struggles.
Chronological Arc
Gran's arc in the novel is relatively static in terms of external events—she remains in the house, recovering from her stroke—but her role evolves in relation to Anna's journey.
Before the story. Gran had a stroke in April, several months before the novel's events. The family decided she needed additional care. Anna insisted Gran live with them, promising to help with therapy, bathing, dressing, and eating. Gran's son Ray refused to take her in, which created tension between Chris and Ray.
During the story. Gran endures the family's patronizing treatment. Chris speaks to her too loudly and uses simple words. Dorothy says Gran has lost her marbles. Gran overhears these conversations through the bedsheet. Despite this, she remains a source of wisdom for Anna. In Chapter 42, she shares the Two Spirits story and her own history of discrimination. When Anna returns home after confronting Fox, Gran is the one who tells Anna she isn't angry at her, and listens to Anna's frustrations about school.
Epilogue. Gran is among the tribal elders who support Anna's vision for the Takoda Cultural, Educational, and Resource Center. The elders tell Anna she could mend the tribe and unite them in ways they haven't been united before.
Relationships
With Anna. This is the novel's most significant relationship for Gran. Gran sees Anna clearly—her nature, her loyalty to her siblings, her burden. She tells Anna that she's always put her siblings first and never resented them, and that even now she'd give all of herself for Grace. She asks Anna to promise never to treat her the way Dorothy and Chris do. The relationship is reciprocal: Anna advocates for Gran's care, and Gran provides Anna with the cultural and emotional support she needs.
With Chris. Chris is Gran's son, but their relationship is strained. He speaks to her patronizingly, moves her wheelchair without asking, and seems to forget she can hear through the bedsheet. When Gran tries to give him a check, he shoves it back and tells her to sit down or go back to bed. Gran's outburst is directed at this treatment.
With Dorothy. Dorothy is more openly dismissive, saying Gran has lost her marbles. Gran overhears this and asks Anna if she's forgetful, nearly a question, showing how the family's treatment has made her doubt herself.
With Ray. Ray refused to take Gran in after her stroke, which Chris called selfish and cheap. This created a rift between the brothers.
Key Decisions and Consequences
Gran's key decisions are mostly about how she responds to her circumstances:
Refusing to be treated as helpless. Gran's stubborn refusals—waving Anna away, insisting on getting herself to bed—preserve her dignity but also frustrate her family. The consequence is that she's often isolated behind the bedsheet, her needs met but her personhood overlooked.
Trying to pay her share. When Gran offers Chris a check, she's asserting that she's not a burden. Chris rejects the gesture, and Gran's frustration erupts in a rare moment of open defiance that resonates with Anna.
Sharing the Two Spirits story. Gran chooses to tell Anna about the fire-ring ceremony where a child's true nature was revealed by whether they brought out a bow or a basket. This story helps Anna understand her own identity as Two Spirited and connects her to a tradition that was lost over time. It's a decision that shapes Anna's self-understanding.
Supporting Anna's vision. In the epilogue, Gran is among the elders who encourage Anna to pursue the preservation society and resource center. This support validates Anna's sense of purpose and helps her see herself as someone who can lead.
Theme and Symbol Connections
Gran connects to several of the novel's central themes:
Oral tradition and storytelling. Gran is a living repository of tribal stories. She shares the Two Spirits ceremony, the balance of predator and prey, and her own lived history. Her storytelling links Anna to a tradition that Miss Shelby's handwritten books also represent.
Cultural preservation vs. economic development. Gran's support for Anna's preservation society—over the gas stations and waterparks that the casino economy has encouraged—positions her on the side of cultural preservation. She wants the tribe's stories and beliefs safeguarded, not just its bank accounts.
Exploitation of Indigenous women and labor. Gran's account of being banned from schools, movies, and diners, and being forced to sit in the back of church, provides historical context for the novel's present-day exploitation. She tells Anna that the reservation was all they had, showing how systemic discrimination created the conditions that the casino economy now exploits.
Family bonds and sibling loyalty. Gran's relationship with Anna models a different kind of family bond—one based on mutual recognition rather than obligation. She sees Anna's loyalty to Grace and affirms it.
Questions and Answers
1. Why does Gran tell Anna the story of the Two Spirits ceremony?
Gran tells Anna the story because she recognizes Anna's nature. She says she and Miss Shelby both saw how Anna played as a child—chasing siblings, climbing trees, crafting paper dolls, catching tadpoles. The story explains that Two Spirits were historically honored as a perfect and unique balance of male and female, and that such children were believed to become the tribe's best protectors, teachers, healers, and caregivers. Gran is giving Anna a framework to understand herself that the present-day tribe has lost.
2. How does Gran's experience of discrimination differ from Anna's?
Gran couldn't attend school at all because she was Indian. She describes a time when Indigenous people had no civil rights, little government assistance, were banned from movies and diners, and could only attend church from the back. Anna faces subtler discrimination: she's steered into home economics instead of woodshop, excluded from baseball and wrestling, and never called to solve equations in science. Gran's history gives Anna's present struggles a longer context.
3. What does Gran mean when she shouts her demand to be allowed to live?
Gran shouts this after Chris shoves her check back into her pocket and tells her to sit down or go back to bed. She's asserting her right to dignity and self-determination despite her stroke. The moment shows that Gran's physical limitations haven't diminished her desire to be treated as a full person, and it resonates with Anna, who wonders if Grace views her the same way Gran views Chris.
4. Why does Gran support Anna's preservation society proposal?
Gran wants the tribe's stories and beliefs preserved. She's lived through a time when those traditions were suppressed—she couldn't even attend school—and she sees Anna as someone who can carry them forward. In the epilogue, the elders, Gran included, tell Anna she can mend the tribe and unite them. Gran's support is both cultural and personal: she believes in Anna's vision and in Anna herself.
5. How does Gran's relationship with Anna differ from her relationship with Chris?
Gran is open and vulnerable with Anna, asking her to promise never to treat her the way Dorothy and Chris do. She shares stories and history with Anna that she doesn't share with others. With Chris, the relationship is marked by his patronizing treatment—speaking too loudly, using simple words, moving her wheelchair without asking. Gran's outburst is a rebellion against that treatment, while her conversations with Anna are collaborations.