Description
Saul Indian Horse has hit bottom. His last binge almost killed him, and now he’s a reluctant resident in a treatment centre for alcoholics, 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. With him, readers embark on a journey back through the life he’s led as a northern Ojibway, with all its joys and sorrows.
With compassion and insight, author Richard Wagamese traces through his fictional characters the decline of a culture and a cultural way. For Saul, taken forcibly from the land and 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. Indian Horse unfolds against the bleak loveliness of northern Ontario, all rock, marsh, bog and cedar. Wagamese writes with a spare beauty, penetrating the heart of a remarkable Ojibway man.
Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels
- Age:
- 15
- Grade:
- 10
Awards
- Short-listed, International IMPAC DUBLIN Literary Award
- Winner, People's Choice Award of Canada Reads
- Winner, Burt Award for First Nations, Metis and Inuit Literature
- Winner, Winner First Nation Communities READ
Editorial Reviews
"Indian Horse finds the granite solidity of Wagamese's prose polished to a lustrous sheen; brisk, brief, sharp chapters propel the reader forward. He seamlessly braids together his two traditions: English literary and aboriginal oral. So audible is Saul's voice, that I heard him stop speaking whenever I closed the book...Wagamese crafts an unforgettable work of art."
— Donna Bailey Nurse, <i>National Post</i>
"Richard Wagamese's writing is exceptional not only for its sensitivity but for a warmth that extends beyond the page. With a finely calibrated hand, he explores heritage, identity, nature, salvation, and gratitude in works that quietly celebrate storytellingís vitality and power to transcend."
— David Chau, <i>Georgia Straight</i>
"Richard Wagamese's writing is sweet medicine for the soul."
— Richard Van Camp, author of <i>The Lesser Blessed</i>
"Indian Horse is a force for healing in our beautiful, broken world."
— Kathleen Winter, author of <i>Annabel</i>
"Indian Horse distills much of what Wagamese has been writing about for his whole career into a clearer and sharper liquor, both more bitter and more moving than he has managed in the past. He is such a master of empathy -- of delineating the experience of time passing, of lessons being learned, of tragedies being endured -- that what Saul discovers becomes something the reader learns, as well, shocking and alien, valuable and true."
— Jane Smiley, <i>Globe & Mail</i>
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Annotations
Indian Horse
Books that make an impact on you are few and far between but this book definitely hit the mark for me. I loved the writing, the imagery, the characters. Absolutely everything about it.
Librarian review
Indian Horse
In this novel, Wagamese writes beautifully about the life-crushing racism towards First Nations people in the 1960s. Saul Indian Horse has grown up in the bush, with the teachings of his grandmother. After his brother and sister are taken away, his grandmother hides him, then dies trying to take him to safety. Saul calls residential school “hell on earth” but grows numb to the horrors around him, learning to become invisible. Hockey becomes his outlet, his passion and his saving grace but his outstanding talent can’t compete with the prejudice of white society. After landing in a treatment centre, Saul realizes he must journey back through his repressed memories and emotions. Aided by his great-grandfather’s mystical vision, Saul’s broken spirit begins to heal.
Wagamese is Ojibway from Northern Ontario.
Caution: Includes references to abuse and alcohol use.
Source: The Association of Book Publishers of BC. Canadian Aboriginal Books for Schools. 2012-2013.
Librarian review
Indian Horse
In this novel, Wagamese writes beautifully about the darkest aspects of life-crushing racism towards First Nations people in the 1960s. Saul Indian Horse has grown up in the bush, with the teachings of his grandmother. After his brother and sister are taken away, his grandmother hides him, then dies trying to take him to safety. Saul calls residential school “hell on earth” but grows numb to the heartbreaking horrors around him, learning to become invisible. Hockey becomes his outlet, his passion and his saving grace but his outstanding talent can’t compete with the prejudice of white society. After landing in a treatment centre, Saul realizes he must journey back through his repressed memories and emotions. Aided by his great-grandfather’s mystical vision, Saul’s broken spirit begins to heal.
An award winner, Wagamese is Ojibway from Northern Ontario.
Caution: Includes references to abuse and alcohol use.
Source: The Association of Book Publishers of BC. BC Books for BC Schools. 2012-2013.
