Saul Indian Horse

Chapter 1. Saul Indian Horse Mother is Mary Mandamin and father is John Indian Horse. Grandfather is called solomon so his name is inspired by his grandfather. His people are apart of the Fish Clan of the Northern Ojibway, the Anishinabeg. Nature is the key theme. Zhaunagush sought help from the First Nations and First Nations gave help to the colonizers initially. Mother Earth is called Aki. He is in a treatment facility and is told he needs to share his story to get over his trauma, he does not want to be there. The place is called The New Dawn Centre. Saul is in his 30’s. Moses is one of his counselors. At this time he was in the facility for a month and after his recent binge he was in the hospital for 6 weeks.

Ojibway peoples were moved to a reserve and were very isolating. Saul’s brother gets sent to residential schools and obviously affects him greatly in the first five chapters. Now they are forced to speak different languages (english or french), have to pray to a new God, and lose their traditional ways of life (hunting and roles in society). Then we see the trauma and healing aspect (New Dawn Centre). The other patients help him open up and try to heal his deep psychological wounds. God’s Lake also known as God’s Lake Narrows, it was traditional part of the Ojibway and Cree peoples. These lakes would be able to use for prayer and for connection to land and waters, the lake then became part of the fur trade network. TB was 20 times higher than in non-indigenous populations. Stigmatized means you were marked for death and outcasted. Zhaunagush means white man or european settler. His great-grandfather Shabogeesick and his brother Benjamin, the treaty men gave the name Indian Horse to the family. So all key themes for the first five chapters are Cultural Displacement and Identity, Trauma and Healing, Connection to Nature, Family and Community, Change and Adaptation.

Saul Indian Horse: The narrator and protagonist.

Naomi (Grandmother): Naomi is Sual’s grandmother and the matriarch of his family (the glue of the family). She is deeply connected to the Ojibway tradition and attempts to hide/protect Saul and his brother Benjamin from residential schools. She was the teacher for the younger generations. 

Benjamin Indian Horse: Saul’s older brother, Benjamin goes to residential school which caused deep trauma to the family. He later escapes and returns home visibly changed and suffering from tuberculosis (coughing sickness) contracted at the school. He signifies the physical and mental trauma from attending residential school.

Shabogeesick (Great-Grandfather): Known as Slanting Sky, he was a shaman (having access to, and influence in, the world of good and evil spirits)., and a trapper (hunting). His story about bringing the first horse to is people gave them change and represents change, aswell as European colonization (Horses are from Northern Europe). 

Mary Mandamin (Mother): She is deeply traumatized by her experiences in the residential school, which has left her emotionally broken and fearful. Her silence and withdrawal (skeleton, living but not living) sybolize the long-lasting impact of cultural and personal trauma.

John Indian Horse (Father): He becomes an alcoholic, using drinking as a means to cope with the loss and trauma experienced by the family (he was supposed to be the protector, feels responsible). He represents despair and helplessness.

Rachel (Sister): She was taken at six years old and we don’t know what happened from her and never heard of her again. How residential schools impacted Saul and his family as well as the whole community like losing connection to nature inability to feel safe to hunt. Page 14

Moses (Counselor): He works at the New Dawn Centre, who encourages Saul to tell his story to aid him in his healing process. Moses represents effort to address and heal from historical trauma through storytelling and communal sharing.

Settings: New Dawn Centre, The Ojibway Territory Along the Winnipeg River, The Bush and Remote Camps (Fled to remote camps after fleeing residential school), Residential School in Kenora (place of horror for Saul’s family), Gods Lake (place to find healing and hope).