Introductory Blog
Indian Horse
By: Richard Wagamese
Copyright 2012
Published by Douglas
& McIntyre Publishers Inc.
221 Pages
Synopsis
The novel “Indian Horse” by Richard Wagamese is based on the
story of a northern Ojibway man who tells his story of surviving the
residential schools and how his experience impacts his life today. “Saul Indian
Horse has hit bottom. His last binge almost killed him, and now he’s a
reluctant resident in a treatment centre, surrounded by people he’s sure will
never understand him. But Saul wants peace, and he grudgingly comes to see that
he’ll find it only through telling his story." [1] Through
the story he shares he journey of how he was able to deal with all that he had
lost and what helped him to move on. “Author
Richard Wagamese traces the decline of a culture and a cultural way with
compassion and insight.For Saul, taken forcibly from his family when he’s sent to
residential school, salvation comes for a while through his incredible gifts as
a hockey player. But in the harsh realities of 1960s Canada, he battles
obdurate racism and the spirit-destroying effects of cultural alienation and
displacement.”[2]
Throughout the novel the author shares the moving story of Saul Indian horse,
and his spirituality that allows him to get through very challenging times.
Link to book review:
I chose to read the book “Indian Horse,” because I was
interested in gaining perspective through the eyes of an Aboriginal Canadian of
what his experience was through the time period of the residential schools. The
connection between surviving a past trauma (in this case the residential
school), and the ability to move on interested me because I can relate to some
of the struggles the character goes through in pursuit of finding peace through
sharing his story, and facing his childhood. By reading the book cover it
appeared to be an inspiring and touching novel based on significant Canadian
history.
