What Is The Theme Of Indian Horse

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

Residential schools are educational institutions established for Indigenous children. It was funded by the Canadian government and administered by Christian churches with the sole purpose of civilizing the native children and assimilate them into the modern western culture. In the novel Monkey Beach, Eden Robinson describes the impact of residential schools on multiple characters in the story. Uncle Mick, Aunt Trudy, and Josh are just a few who have experienced many types of abuse-physical, sexual, emotional and spiritual. Those horrid memories left permanent emotional scars and still resides with them even until adulthood. Residential schools disrupted lives, isolated families, eliminated cultural identity and caused long-term problems among the Indigenous community.

Theodore Fontaine is one of the thousands of young aboriginal peoples who were subjected through the early Canadian system of the Indian residential schools, was physically tortured. Originally speaking Ojibwe, Theodore relates the encounters of a young man deprived of his culture and parents, who were taken away from him at the age of seven, during which he would no longer be free to choose what to say, how to say it, with whom to live and even what culture to embrace. Theodore would then spend the next twelve years undoing what had been done to him since birth, and the rest of his life attempting a reversal of his elementary education culture shock, traumatization, and indoctrination of ethnicity and Canadian supremacy. Out of these experiences, he wrote the “Broken Circle: The Dark Legacy of Indian Residential Schools-A Memoir” and in this review, I considered the Heritage House Publishing Company Ltd publication.

“Adversity is like a strong wind. It tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that we see ourselves as we really are.” Adversity implies difficulties, trouble and misfortune as it tests the potential of man and strengthens his spirit of self confidence. In the novel Indian Horse written by Richard Wagamese there are many circumstances where the main character Saul is forced to overcome the adversity in which once shattered his human spirit and made him feel worthless. The ideas of adversity such as being beaten at residential schools and the racism he faced while playing hockey, demonstrates Saul’s constant inner struggle and his desire to become a

During the 19th century the Canadian government established residential schools under the claim that Aboriginal culture is hindering them from becoming functional members of society. It was stated that the children will have a better chance of success once they have been Christianised and assimilated into the mainstream Canadian culture. (CBC, 2014) In the film Education as We See It, some Aboriginals were interviewed about their own experiences in residential schools. When examining the general topic of the film, conflict theory is the best paradigm that will assist in understanding the social implications of residential schools. The film can also be illustrated by many sociological concepts such as agents of socialization, class

Upon arriving in Manitouwadge, and playing some hockey with the Moose team, Saul recaptures a piece of him, that the residential school had repressed. Saul was thrilled upon hearing “‘Welcome to the Moose.’ Virgil thumped [Saul] on the back, and they all rattled the blades of their sticks on the ice… I was a Moose.” (106) The fact that he was free, and had found a community of his own helped his spirit to rebuild the damage that was done to it. Ensuing the maturing of Saul; along with the complete loss of his identity, he returns to the Moose, where he reflects back on his mistakes, but looks to the future smiling. Virgil helps him realise who Saul’s friends are and that they are always there for him. When they were playing a long-past due hockey game, Virgil “smiled and tapped [Saul’s] stick with his. ‘Together.’ he said. ‘Like we shoulda all along.’ I smiled.” (221) By accepting his past and readying himself for his future, Saul eliminates the regret, which was holding back a big piece of who he is. Finally, Saul returns to God’s Lake where he regains the main piece of his identity that was taken from him by St. Jerome’s- his identity as an Ojibway. He did what he felt had to be done and “offered tobacco to the lake. Where everything started and everything ended, to the cliff that had made this the place of my people, and I offered my thanks aloud in an

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.

Isabelle Knockwood’s novel Out of The Depths shines a light on Residential Schools in Canada through the first hand accounts of twenty-seven survivors who attended the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School. Although Knockwood’s compilation of accounts are all from students of one residential school, the treatments and experiences echo the sentiments of students and authors over a much greater area. The affects of Residential Schools have had a lasting impact, affecting communities and individual generations later. Knockwood’s novel is very unique because it voices not only the harsh realities we associate with residential schools, but also personal experiences of appreciation for what the school(s) did. It will be interesting to look at

“At St. Jerome’s we work to remove the Indian in our children so that the blessings of the Lord may be evidenced upon them” (Wagamese 46). These words provide the exact mindset the white people had toward the Indians. In the novel Indian Horse written by Richard Wagamese, the protagonist Saul grows up and is accustomed to the period of time where there is a pro - white bias. A bias so strong that the racism becomes institutionalized. This bias in all its forms and degrees crushes Saul’s spirit and turns what could have been a terrific athletic career to years of fighting, searching and drinking. Through the definite racism of his taking, the sexual and verbal abuse he receives from high religious figures, as well as the hierarchy created within the National Hockey League it is clear Saul believes his people are inferior to the whites which, in tail, develops the racism and prejudice central theme in the novel.

To prove it, he was told “‘And if I don’t go?’ ‘Then I’ll think you’re a coward. That you let it beat you without even trying.’ ‘What if I’m not good enough?’ He laughed, and the others laughed too…’Believe me, you’ll be good enough.’” (Wagamese 154) In more detail, the Moose always made sure that Saul knew he belonged, they treated him like a part of the family. They also helped to push him forwards when he was doubting his skills, like a normal family would do. To sum it up, the Kelly family has played a huge roll in Saul’s life. They helped him to make some critical decisions, along with helping to make sure he feels like he belongs.

Young Indigenous children from all over Canada were snatched from their homes, taken from their families, and placed in residential schools that would ruin these children and bring out the feeling of pain that would last their entire life. In Richard Wagamese novel Indian horse, Saul Indian Horse, one of the many victims of the sixties scoop was taken as a young boy, where he was abused mentally, physically and emotionally at St. Jerome's residential school. This school would inflict pain that would last forever and has a terrible aftermath on his life that puts him in a long and difficult healing process he endured to turn his life around from the distractions he used to hide from the pain. Richard Wagamese tells the story of Indian Horse through the eyes of Saul Indian Horse to demonstrate the feelings he endures during the story for the readers better understanding of the character.

Despite Saul's efforts at using the newly introduced sport of hockey to drive away his loneliness, he is victimized within the sport and is left traumatized. While playing the game, Saul remarks that “I knew that loneliness would be dispelled by the sheen of the rink in the sunlight, the

In the book Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson, the main character, Lisamarie, has to go through a series of traumatic events. However, these events play a crucial role in understanding the message of the novel. First Nations communities are still struggling with the aftermath of residential schools. This has led to a loss of culture. Lisamarie faces the death of many family members, and sexual assault which help her get in touch with her supernatural side. However, because she has grown up in a Haisla family that doesn’t practice a lot of its culture, she doesn’t know how to accept that part of herself. Several members of Lisamarie’s family attended residential schools which forces her to face intergenerational trauma. The author uses traumatic events that revolve around first nations communities to make the reader aware of the struggles that still affect first nation cultures.

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).

First off, Saul and Clary grow stronger because of their experiences with the conflict of losing their families. Some of this conflict is man vs man and some is man vs nature. When Saul’s parents leave him with his grandmother so they can give Ben a proper funeral, they never come back. This is known