Indian Residential Schools is a horrible event that happened from the 1840s until the 1990s. From these past mistakes in judgement, the education system has added curriculum to bring more knowledge to the event. By doing this we read “Indian Horse” by Richard Wagamese which is a fictional novel based on true events. It is about an Ojibway boy who experienced the hardships before, during, and after the Indian Residential School. The importance of learning the past is to ensure that this can be prevented in the future, to recognize what happened, and to help those affected by Indian Residential Schools. The importance of knowing Saul’s story is because it allows students’ knowledge to grow about Canadian history. First Nations had traumatic …show more content…
Substance abuse was one of the struggles Saul had to overcome on his journey to discovering himself. He turned to alcohol when he felt lost and wanted to forget. The reason for this is because of the traumatic experiences he witnessed at St. Jerome’s Indian Residential School. It allows them to ignore the problem they’re avoiding for a short amount of time, then to only drown themselves in more alcohol or drugs. However, can have negative effects if it is done often. These negative effects include organ failure, brain damage, psychosis, and death to name a few. Specifically to alcoholism since Saul chose alcohol to escape is kidney failure and brain damage (cerebral cortex - problem solving and decision making, hippocampus - memory and learning, cerebellum - movement and coordination). Although it is hard to recover from substance abuse certain programs are available to help recover, such as the New Dawn Centre in “Indian Horse”. Another presentation that relates to “Indian Horse” and Saul is psychogeography. Psychogeography refers to the influence of the geographical environment on the mind and behaviour. 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. The pain that the First Nations have went through without being recognized for so
Neil Diamond 's documentary “Reel Injun” depicts the historical portrayal of the treatment of the First Nations in America. It brings awareness to the truth behind not only First Nations, but other stereotyped groups. For example, that many people often mistake all members of the Muslim community as Extremists who commit inhumane acts of terrorism. Small percentages of the population who fit the stereotyped criteria may often unintentionally represent their background negatively and as a whole. These are then misinterpreted by society ultimately having a biased view on groups of people.
Through the Medicine Wheel, we are reminded of our lifelong journey that is continuous upon birth and living through youth, adulthood and senior years. In Richard Wagamese’s Indian Horse, the protagonist Saul experiences many obstacles which shape and develop his character. Saul’s life can be divided into more than the four stages of life to better understand his journey. Saul’s Life with His Family The time Saul was able to spend with his family was very short due to the effects of the white men.
Author Richard Wagamese conveys a message in his novel Indian Horse displaying the idea of sacrifice. Specifically how people must sacrifice belonging for survival. Wagamese uses Saul 's experiences, choices and general story to express this message. Throughout Saul’s life he is forced to make sacrifices for himself and the people around him in order to survive, his isolation is what gets him through. Everyday people see the reproductions of community and how surviving isn 't an easy thing.
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
“Bruises fade, but the pain lasts forever” (Christina Kelly). This compelling quote depicts the horrifying side effects of abuse. In the gripping novel titled “Indian Horse,” author Richard Wagamese successfully informs readers about the severely unfair conditions in which the Native Indians were treated. Through Saul’s terrifying experiences in the Residential school and hockey tournaments, readers can effectively identify the purpose of the novel – treating someone through any kind of abuse can leave them with long lasting pain, and memories that will haunt them forever. There were numerous incidents at the residential school regarding physical abuse, and after effects that followed.
Native Americans in Canadian society are constantly fighting an uphill battle. After having their identity taken away in Residential Schools. The backlash of the Residential Schools haunts them today with Native American people struggling in today 's society. Native Americans make up five percent of the Canadian population, yet nearly a quarter of the murder victims. The haunting memories of Residential Schools haunt many Native Americans to this day.
Under the Influence by Scott Russell Sanders “Under the Influence” by Scott Russell Sanders is a poignant essay relaying Sander’s struggles with his father’s alcoholism. Sanders’ essay is revealing in ways that statistics and studies on alcoholism cannot possibly contain. Sanders’ essay is like a catalog of the devastating emotional effects of his father’s alcoholism. In his essay, Sanders convincingly counteracts misconceptions about alcoholism and supports the argument that alcoholism is more like a disease rather than the common misconceptions of alcoholism.
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 receiving apologies from Prime Ministers Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau, the government system to protect First Nations families appears to have detrimental effects on the native children. This is proven by young children turning to drugs in order to satisfy their growing pain, by family members who abuse their kids because of alcohol addictions, and the increasing discriminatory behaviour by surrounding communities. To begin with, young children are turning to drugs in order to satisfy their growing pain.
1. Pratt opposed reservations because Jefferson’s treaty agreement meant the Great River would be the border between them and the whites. Indians would be isolated and not a part of the American life. 2. Schools would “kill the Indian and save the man” by introducing them to the life of an American.
Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese demonstrates that Saul has gone through hardships throughout the book, one of them being Depression. Saul becomes depressed due to all of the strict rules that the residential schools have imposed on him. “At St. Jerome’s we work to remove Indian from our children that the blessings of the Lord may be evidenced upon them.” (pg 46-47)Clinical - Depression.on.uk published an article that says one of the causes of depression is the way that you think about a situation and how you react to it, “Different people react to adversity in different ways, and this has led to the study of how depressed people's' thinking styles compare to those who don't depress. Inside, often feeling guilty for being depressed as well
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.
Sherman Alexie writes the story “Indian Education” using a deadpan tone to build and connect the years of the narrator 's life together in an ironic way. Alexie is able to utilize irony through the use of separate, short sections within the story. The rapid presentation of events, simple thoughts, and poetic points made within the story enable the reader to make quick connections about the narrator’s life to draw more complex realizations. The art that Alexie uses to write this very short story is poetic in nature through the meaning and structure of his writing. By the fact that the reader can draw deeper conclusions about the narrator 's life from Alexie’s writing is evident that his writing is poetic.
Throughout history, there have been many literary studies that focused on the culture and traditions of Native Americans. Native writers have worked painstakingly on tribal histories, and their works have made us realize that we have not learned the full story of the Native American tribes. Deborah Miranda has written a collective tribal memoir, “Bad Indians”, drawing on ancestral memory that revealed aspects of an indigenous worldview and contributed to update our understanding of the mission system, settler colonialism and histories of American Indians about how they underwent cruel violence and exploitation. Her memoir successfully addressed past grievances of colonialism and also recognized and honored indigenous knowledge and identity.
Argument for Banning “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” Book in Middle Schools Published in 2007, “The Absolutely True Diary of Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie says about the moving story of a Native American teenager named Arnold Spirit who made the bold decision to attend an all-white high school from Spokane reservation to find hope for the future in the Reardan. This volume won the National Book Award in 2007 and won several other awards. Even though this novel can be power of education, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” paperback should be banned because this is not appropriate for middle schools.
ALCOHOLISM How many times have you heard about the consequences of alcoholism? Have you taken them into account? Alcoholism is one of the major problems in society. People don’t take it so seriously but it actually is a disease. The effects of this disease are really serious.