There are still many Canadians out there who don’t know much about residential school. All Canadians should learn more about our past and the many terrible things that occurred to First Nations people while in residential schools, and even out of the schools. For many years First Nation Children were taken away from their family and sent to residential schools, which were run by religious institutions. The school’s main goals were to get rid of the Indian in a child, and they would strip them naked of who they were and where they came from. The book Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese gives us a clear insight into all the hard times that a child might have to go through while in a residential school. The book also shows what their lives would …show more content…
Many people out there judge First Nations people, but what they don’t know is their story. As we start to learn more about the stories of First Nations people we get a better understanding of what they might have gone through, why they are how they are today and why they can’t let go of what happened in the past. Once we have learned their stories we learn to let go of all the hate and discrimination, we begin to be able to feel and understand how they felt. It is important that we learn about First Nations people, their culture and what they went through because we are all in this country together, and we need to help each other. The sooner we understand what aboriginal people has been through, the faster the healing process will go. This can be done by reading books, talking to elders or just as simple as asking aboriginal people questions about their culture. It’s much easier to empathize with others once you know what they have been through. The more Canadians know about aboriginal history the easier reconciliation will be. Which is why teaching and talking about residential schools in schools is a very good step to making Canada a better place. A little knowledge can go a long
Analyzing Racism and Prejudice in Indian Horse Racism and Prejudice experienced by Indigenous peoples throughout Canada’s history is usually only whispered about, buried in the deepest parts of our souls. Indian Horse provides a raw perspective into the reality of so many unheard Indigenous voices. From the beginning of his journey at residential school to developing a newfound love for hockey and a heartbreaking path through alcoholism, Saul’s journey focuses on the unjustifiable racism and prejudice that threaten to break his spirit. The “Indian Horse” by Richard Wagamese explores the harrowing racism and prejudice experienced by our protagonist, Saul Indian Horse. Systemic racism faced at St. Jerome’s is an integral aspect of Indian Horse
The novel Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese is the story of Saul Indian Horse and his experience growing up as a First Nations in Canada. The novel not only speaks on Saul’s personal story, but the story of Canada as well. The First Nations have a complicated and abusive relationship with Canada; it is their land but ownership was claimed by someone else. The First Nations are oppressed and removed from their land to assimilate to white culture through residential schools, and there Canada’s national sport, hockey, and both its positive and less commonly explored negative sides are discovered, as shown in Wagamese’s novel. Indian Horse explores Saul’s story, and through this Canada’s story too.
Indian Horse, written by Richard Wagamese tells the life story of a man named Saul Indian Horse and he describes his many years at residential school and how they affected his life. From the 1870s to the mid-1990s Indian residential schools were put in place to “civilize” the Indian child; the primary goal of residential schools was to take the Indian out of the child. Richard Wagamese’s, Indian Horse sheds light on the different horrors that aboriginal children were forced to endure while at residential school. Aboriginal children were severely physically abused, psychologically abused, and girls as well as boys were forced to perform physically demanding and often dangerous tasks during their time at these institutions
Thousands of First Nations children were kidnapped and imprisoned in residential schools during the 1960s. These children were then forced to renounce anything in relation to their traditional lives, such as their native tongue. These objectives were often achieved in a barbaric and inhumane manner. Richard Wagamese’s “Indian Horse” recounts the fictional story of Saul Indian Horse’s struggle through residential school along with the residual effects on his adult life. Within the novel, Wagamese highlights how one’s traumatic past can have tremendous physical and mental effects, especially in the absence of support.
Although racism, discrimination and progression of character is prominent in the books Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese and To Kill a MockingBird by Harper Lee, Indian Horse displays it in a much more upfront way. In the two novels, they both display a high degree of racism, except one shows it first hand and the other shows it second hand. Indian Horse shows a very upfront and hard-to-read version of racism towards aboriginals. At one point in the book, the main character, Saul and his team go to an out of town game and go eat at a little restaurant after. A group of white boys come over and tell them that they have to earn the right to eat there (Wagamese 133). They then take each teammate individually out behind the building then beat them
From the 1870’s until the last school closed in 1996, at least 150,000 Indigenous children attended residential schools in Canada. More than 130 government mandated schools existed across the country. These schools were church administered, with the express purpose of forcibly removing Indigenous children from their native culture, in an effort to assimilate them into Euro-Canadian culture and thereby “kill the Indian in the child”. Countless families were torn apart as the Canadian government placed
Since the colonization of Canada First Nations people have been discriminated against and assimilated into the new culture of Canada through policies created by the government. Policies created had the intentions of improving the Aboriginal people’s standard of living and increasing their opportunities. Mainly in the past hundred years in Canadian Society, policies and government implemented actions such as; Residential schools, the Indian Act, and reserve systems have resulted in extinguishing native culture, teachings, and pride. Policies towards the treatment of Aboriginal Canadians has decreased their opportunities and standard of living because of policies specified previously (Residential schools, the Indian Act, and reservation systems).
In Canadian history, there are a lot of interesting events happened in the past. Some of them are events that are proudly presented such as Battle of Vimy Ridge, Canadian peace keeper and others. On the other hand, there are also a lot of tragedy events that happened in the past. Indian Act is one of an important act which occurred in 1876 and it led to establishment of Indian residential school, and the Indian residential school is a tragedy event that happened in Canada. It was the school that most of First Nation people will never forget. What was the reason? What did the residential school do with those First Nation people?
Residential Schools were and still are a significant part of Canada’s history. They have had negative social and psychological effects on survivors and even their families. Grant Severight, Richard Wagamese, and Rita Joe and so many more are incredible authors who share their experiences on Residential Schools from either their or their families’ perspectives.
Residential School’s were introduced back in the 1870’s, they were made to change the way native children spoke their languages and how they viewed their cultures. The residential school system in Canada was operated by the government, where the native children were aggressively forced away from their loved ones to participate in these schools (1000 Conversations). The government had a concept, where they can modernize the native children, aged of three to eighteen and extinguish the aboriginal culture. In the twentieth century the Canadian Public School’s had arrived and had improved treatments than residential schools. In Contrast, the treatments within these schools were both different, whereas Canadian public school students had more freedom than residential school students because children were taken away from their families. However, the treatment in these schools were different and some what similar. Even though Residential schools and Canadian Public schools were similar in some form, there were numerous amounts of differences in how the children were taught, how they were treated and how their living conditions were like throughout these schools.
Residential schools were a place where thousands of Indigenous children would go to learn but instead get abused very badly. Residential schools existed about a hundred years ago. These tragic schools were established because European people wanted the Indigenous people of Canada to be assimilated into Euro-Canadian. The European people thought that their civilization was the greatest human achievement. A lot of residential schools opened within Canada’s provinces. Life at residential schools was very cruel because the students got limited time to learn and more time to do exhausting chores. The children also got brutally abused for various things including if they offend the nuns and priests working in the schools. By the time the children had finished attending the residential schools they had almost forgotten everything about their culture and traditions. Residential schools treated children very poorly which caused some long-lasting effects that still impact Indigenous people today.
Residential schools in Canada were present for over 100 years and were created by the government to eliminate the Indigenous culture. These schools successfully separated families while creating huge cultural barriers between children and their Native culture (COHA, 2011). These children were forcibly removed from their families and taken to residential schools because Canadians saw Indigenous peoples as “backwards” or “savage” (COHA, 2011). They also believed that they were inferior to Natives and that these schools would help “civilize” aboriginals by replacing their Native traits with Western values (COHA, 2011).
Saul experiences a tremendous amount of change throughout the novel, and becomes an intelligent, and creative individual, from learning the ways of the Ojibway people. Saul begins to lose trust in his family, due to them leaving him in the bush. Saul loses his innocence throughout his time spent in residential school. Saul begins to change form a kind, warm young boy to an angry alcoholic. Saul's life is altered forever through the people he meets. In the novel Indian Horse, by Richard Wagamese, the character of Saul Indian Horse forms a variety of relationships within his life. Although Saul experienced difficult relationships, he was still able to form positive and loving relationships within his life.
This paper is focusing on Residential Schools and the effect they had on the development of the individuals who attended the schools. The thought behind the Residential Schools was that, “Residential schools were the institutions, in operation from the 19th century to the late 20th century, which Indigenous children in Canada were forced to attend” (Ross, Dion, Cantinotti, Collin-Vézina, & Paquette, 2015, p. 184). Residential Schools have caused intergenerational hardship and trauma to Indigenous People’s that has affected their well-being and development. Being First Nations myself and having family members who suffered the Residential Schools, I have seen the effects on our people. Residential Schools had negative impacts on the individuals who attended these schools by removing them from their communities and placing the children in these schools, the effects of the Residential Schools still impact some of the survivors to this day. It needs to be remembered that these, children did not choose to attend these schools, they were forced into attending. Those who are different tend to stand out. As Ranzjin (2010) explained “… exclusion occur[s] when people are systematically excluded from meaningful participation in… social, political, cultural and other forms of human activity” (p. 718).
Residential Schools were systems set in place by the Government of Canada and enforced by Christian churches as a way to approach the “issue” of the First Nations. They were used by the government to assimilate the Aboriginal children into European culture. It is significant that Canadians remember this time in history because it's not so far in the past. We see the repercussions to this day. This source shows the perspective of the Government, and supporters of the Government. On the other hand Aboriginal people may disagree, they are still greatly struggling with misfortune due to Residential Schools. The perspective shown in the source should be looked into considering the government's insufficient response to the legacies left behind by Residential Schools. For example we see higher prison rates, more drop outs, and family abuse more than most cultural groups in