Birdie And Indian Horse Analysis

The voices of Indigenous children are unheard and purposely ignored. This is portrayed through the literature of Birdie by Tracey Lindberg and Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese. Despite both apologies from Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau, the government system to protect First Nations children appears to have detrimental effects on the life of a child. This is proven by young children turning to drugs in order to satisfy their growing pain, family members who abuse their children because they consume high amounts of alcohol, which has a negative impact on the child, and discriminatory behaviour by surrounding communities. To begin with, young children turning to drugs in order to satisfy their growing pain. After the terrible happening of Residential Schools, the neverending history of suffering can cause a child to reciprocate their feelings by abusing substances. In Tracey Lindberg’s Birdie, it’s stated briefly of the ways in which Bernice relies on alcohol on many lonely nights.
“She knows that she shouldn’t have gone to the motel with him. There are a lot of shouldn’t haves. Drunk gin. Flirted. Talked to strangers. Drunk gin. Flirted with strangers who bought her gin. It really was a limited and vicious circle. The first drink was the hardest. Well, getting to the first drink was the

Thirdly, discriminatory behaviour by surrounding communities and the effects it has on First Nation children. There are many voices in this world that appreciate being heard upon their opinions, but some individuals use their voices as weapons to bring down other people. In Richard Wagamese’s Indian Horse, the audience in a hockey game perceive a hockey team full of Indigenous peoples as a source of negative energy for the game in general, and that can be interpreted as racial discrimination.
“As we skated onto the ice for our game against the North Bay Nuggets, the crowd booed us. When our line us was introduced, they knew exactly where to direct their energy” (Wagamese