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Saul Indian Horse Sparknotes

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Imagine living in a world where the government works to erase your cultural identity from you and your people. Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese, follows the story of Saul Indian Horse, a young Anishinaabe boy who navigates through a racist, unjust system while pursuing his dream. Along the way, he gets put into a residential school where they work to remove his indigenous identity from him which leads to an internal struggle. To overcome this struggle he must return to his indigeneity; this is demonstrated by Saul reconnecting with his ancestors, re-embracing his native language in the form of prayers, and taking part in rituals important to his culture. In order to fully heal as a person, Saul must return to a missing piece of himself, his …show more content…

Shortly after, he travels to God’s lake to reunite with them spiritually. This connection is very significant as it was one of many things the residential school erased from his indigenous identity. In indigenous culture, it is extremely important to be in tune with your ancestors and community. This is because they believe that a strong relationship with them leads to a secure connection with one’s roots and heritage as it gives them a sense of identity. Moreover, after reconnecting with his ancestors, Saul finally has the support he needs to mourn and heal from all he has been through. With the spiritual presence of his family, he feels their support and finally lets everything he has been holding in …show more content…

After reconnecting with his ancestors, he feels their support through the northern lights. The northern lights have many beliefs weaved in through generations in the form of legends. As claimed by Manitoba First Nations Education the northern lights are believed to be “spirits of the ancestors celebrating life, reminding us that we are all part of creation,”. As Saul mourns he mentions that the northern lights emerge in the sky, meaning that his ancestors dance around him, reminding him of his Indigenous identity and that they are there to help him along the way. With this newfound support that he needed, Saul grieves for all he has been through, healing. All of the emotions that he had kept bottled up for years finally opened which was an essential thing that needed to happen in order for him to come to peace with everything he experienced throughout his journey. All things considered, once Saul understands that a broken connection with his ancestors is needed in order to heal, he reconnects with them and heals a part of himself that he was not able to do on his

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When someone is happy or content with the geographical environment it depends on the memories associated with that environment. For example, Saul saw the “bush” as home since all of his family had been raised there. While St. Jerome’s Indian Residential School was associated with negative memories. These could be the sexual, physical, and emotional abuse Saul experienced at the school. These presentation brings knowledge by connecting it to the text the real after effects of what these Indian Residential Schools have caused.

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739 Words | 3 Pages

Saul Indian Horse had a traumatic childhood. He was taken away by white people after having his sibling being taken away from his family. First of, this story started very dark; from the very beginning, Saul had a rough childhood. Moreover, while, he was still a part of the Fish Clan, his gift was his vision; for, he saw (he had a vision) of his ancestors getting crushed by a boulder when he was by the river during the night. Again, when Saul was trying to escape to a better life --after his family had gain hope from regaining Saul’s brother -- Saul’s hope was taken away after he had that vision.

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Miriam Ruhland NBE 3U Ms. Darby Conning 9 May 2023 Literary Essay Moral Injury from Trauma in Indian Horse The Novel Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese is a horrific narrative about Saul Indian Horse, an Indigenous boy. The book focuses on his childhood trauma, grossly induced by the residential school he attended, and how he was able to cope. By telling Saul’s story, Wagamese displays the effect of trauma on one’s motivation to live a moral life.

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1454 Words | 6 Pages

As socialization's effects are inevitable, we are constantly influenced by groups. However, regardless of the groups we are influenced by, the one concept that is absolute is our reliance on the sense of togetherness that seldom dissolves. The concept is explored in the novel Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese and the short story "Borders" by Thomas King, both of which emphasize characters who have been influenced by cultural assimilation. Indian Horse is a journey of Saul Indian Horse, a young Indigenous child who lost their family due to assimilation and was forced to attend a residential school. “Borders” is a journey of a Blackfoot mother who desires to visit her daughter in Salt Lake City, separated from her Blackfoot background; both emphasizing

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1772 Words | 8 Pages

Saul eventually finds himself without a job and without a place to live. He spends his nights loitering around bars hoping someone will buy him a

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641 Words | 3 Pages

People encounter many obstacles in their lifetimes, obstacles that are too arduous to overcome by themselves. They must find a way to get through these difficulties, and there is always something, or someone, that helps keep them sane through these hard hours. To Saul Indian Horse, the main character of Richard Wagamese’s novel Indian Horse, that obstacle is St. Jerome’s Residential School and the very element that kept him sane was hockey. In the residential school, Saul is abused both mentally and physically, witnessing the continued deaths of his Indian classmates. Fortunately, Saul was able to keep himself sane through hockey.

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1304 Words | 6 Pages

The book depicts the heartbreaking incidents of the main character, Saul Indian Horse, and the children around him who suffer cultural, mental, and physical abuse at the hands of the government-run schools. The cultural abuse that Indigenous children endured in residential schools is one of the most devastating aspects of residential schools’ destruction. In these schools, children are treated like clay, where the priests and nuns “work to remove the Indian from [the] children” (Wagamese 46-47). This cultural erasure is a form of colonization, where the dominant group seeks to assimilate the minority group into their culture, often at the expense of the minority group's cultural identity.

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1032 Words | 5 Pages

In the novel Indian Horse, the readers see many faces of oppression occur, but marginalization occurs much more frequently than others. In the novel, marginalization operates among the other faces of oppression, each working together to amplify the alienation that Saul and the other characters experience. This demonstrates how the faces have a cumulative rather than individual effect. In Indian Horse, violence is a very common face of oppression that occurs throughout the novel, making a large impact on the characters.

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Indigenous people across Canada have been suppressed by the government, system, and settlers still to this day. The residential school system was a system of boarding schools that were established by the Canadian government and administered by various churches to assimilate Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian culture. Many of these children suffered physical, sexual, and emotional abuse from school staff. Even though residential schools have been abolished they can still affect indigenous people today. The book “Indian Horse” clearly represents the intergenerational trauma of Indigenous communities in Canada.

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863 Words | 4 Pages

His support fosters Saul's development of resilience, allowing him to endure the challenges he faces. Through their relationship, Saul discovers his worth and reclaims his indigenous identity, embarking on a journey of

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1114 Words | 5 Pages

I let myself mourn (205).” This is Saul’s emotional development because after many years of rage and emptiness, he is able to express his true emotions such as sorrow. Saul has allowed his self to beginning the journey to wholeness and rebirth having confronted his past and made peace. Saul’s return ends the vicious hold the white men held on him for numerous

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The detrimental and unfair categorization of people by race, gender and more, commonly known as discrimination, affects many in society both mentally and emotionally. Many instances of this act of hatred occurred among Aboriginal and Native Canadians in the 20th century. However, for a little Native Indian boy stepping onto the rink, this is the norm that surrounds him. Saul Indian Horse, in Richard Wagamese’s “Indian Horse”, faces discrimination head on, where his strengths for hockey are limited by the racial discrimination from the surrounding white ethnicity. Consequently, this racism draws him into a mentally unstable state, where he suffers heavy consequences.

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1046 Words | 5 Pages

Passion As A Means To Escape Trauma is something that affects everyone. It is something that can weigh down our souls and minds. In Richard Wagamese’s Indian Horse, the main character Saul Indian Horse has experienced an intense amount of trauma and discrimination. He experienced years of family losses and had to endure the painstaking experience of attending residential school.

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2034 Words | 9 Pages

He then realizes that only through his suffering did he gain something valuable, a new family. Finally, after everything that had happened, Ishmael

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He realizes he is in exile and there really is nothing he nor anyone else can do about it. By accepting his life, (luck and fate in all) of being in exile, it makes for a much calmer journey(for the time that these emotions

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