Indian Horse

by Richard Wagamese

Paperback, 2012

Status

Available

Call number

813.54

Genres

Publication

Douglas & McIntyre (2012), Edition: Canadian First, 232 pages

Description

Fiction. Literature. HTML: A First Nations former hockey star looks back on his life as he undergoes treatment for alcoholism in this novel from the author of Dream Wheels. Saul Indian Horse is a child when his family retreats into the woods. Among the lakes and the cedars, they attempt to reconnect with half-forgotten traditions and hide from the authorities who have been kidnapping Ojibway youth. But when winter approaches, Saul loses everything: his brother, his parents, his beloved grandmother�??and then his home itself. Alone in the world and placed in a horrific boarding school, Saul is surrounded by violence and cruelty. At the urging of a priest, he finds a tentative salvation in hockey. Rising at dawn to practice alone, Saul proves determined and undeniably gifted. His intuition and vision are unmatched. His speed is remarkable. Together they open doors for him: away from the school, into an all-Ojibway amateur circuit, and finally within grasp of a professional career. Yet as Saul's victories mount, so do the indignities and the taunts, the racism and the hatred�??the harshness of a world that will never welcome him, tied inexorably to the sport he loves. Spare and compact yet undeniably rich, Indian Horse is at once a heartbreaking account of a dark chapter in our history and a moving coming-of-age story. "Shocking and alien, valuable and true... A master of empathy."�??Jane Smiley, Pulitzer Prize�??winning author of Golden Age "A severe yet beautiful novel.... Indian Horse finds the granite solidity of Wagamese's prose polished to a lustrous sheen; brisk, brief, sharp chapters propel the reader forward."�??Donna Bailey Nurse, National Post (To… (more)

Media reviews

Quill and Quire

Saul is portrayed clearly enough to function as a believable, engaging narrator, but he also operates as a kind of allegorical figure in a larger, spiritual drama of personal and communal trauma, endurance, and recovery.

Wagamese pulls off a fine balancing act: exposing the horrors of the

country’s residential schools while also celebrating Canada’s national game.

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National Post

Wagemese’s writing qualifies as an act of courage, for we are in the midst of one of the most effective silencing campaigns in generations: People who dare to address historical wrongs are regularly accused of whining; unbelievably, the word “victim” has become a derogatory term. Yet,

Wagamese writes without apology; and with such specificity and emotional restraint the reader sometimes forgets to breathe....In addition to individual words and phrases, he weaves in Ojibway legends. In this way Wagamese crafts an unforgettable work of art.

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User reviews

LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50

I have never felt more Canadian or more guilty than during my read of Indian Horse a beautifully written novel by the Objibway writer, Richard Wagamese. The story of Saul Indian Horse is a disturbing, yet ultimately uplifting story that explores the impact of Canadian residential schools on

generations of Aboriginal Canadians.

These residential schools are a stain on my country’s history. While we celebrate our multiculturalism and openness to immigrants from around the world, we have only recently begun to recognize and identify the horrific impact of the forced abductions, wiping of cultural background and endless abuse that was inflicted on these children.

When Saul was taken to St. Jerome’s, he entered a bleak, loveless world where the priests and nuns tried to remove his connections to family, culture and race. What saves Saul is the game of hockey and he puts his whole being into the game. A young priest, Father Lebouilier encourages his interest and Saul surprises everyone with his uncanny hockey skills. These skills lead to him being taken away from the school and bring him into the larger hockey world with a shot at making the NHL. Unfortunately, however, this was the hockey world of the 1960’s and Saul finds his inner rage building as the racial intolerance grows. Although Saul left the game behind, he could not shake off the deep anger inside himself and isn’t until years later, while he is working to overcome his addiction to alcohol that he is able to face the truth that he has been battling since childhood.

Indian Horse is an excellent book, the story is simple and straightforward yet tells a story that speaks directly to the emotions of the reader. As Saul battles his demons the reader is given a clear picture of how the loss of home and culture had set him adrift. Although a work of fiction, the experiences that he writes about are the devastating truth, and reading of the horrors that trusted guardians put these these innocent children through brought me to tears. As a Canadian I felt guilty that we, as a nation, buried our heads in the sand and didn’t see what was plainly taking place. Indian Horse is one more testimonial to the heartbreaking legacy that the residential school system has left behind.

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LibraryThing member lit_chick

“One day the clouds hung low and light rain freckled the slate-grey water that peeled across our bow. The pellets of rain were warm and Benjamin and I caught them on our tongues as our grandmother laughed behind us. Our canoes skimmed along and as I watched the shoreline it seemed the land itself

was in motion. The rocks lay lodged like hymns in the breast of it, and the trees bent upward in praise like crooked fingers. It was glorious. Ben felt it too. He looked at me with tears in his eyes, and I held his look a long time, drinking in the face of my brother.” (18)

Book Description: from front cover
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. Beginning with his childhood on the land, he embarks on a journey back through his life as a northern Ojibway, with all its joys and sorrows.

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.

My Review:
Wagamese’s Indian Horse was a gift from the Aboriginal Education Department of my local School District. And what a gift! The novel is one I didn’t want to put down, and, but for starting it late one evening, would have read in a single sitting. The story of Saul Indian Horse, and of the fate of his family, is at once tragic, heartbreaking, courageous, and victorious. Saul, having been taken into residential school at eight years old, manages well into his adulthood to see his way through the other side of his abusive experience, and to at last know peace. But the road to salvation was not a straight one or an easy one, plagued as it was by rage, isolation, desolation, and alcoholism.

“They took me to St. Jerome’s Indian Residential School. I read once that there are holes in the universe that swallow all light, all bodies. St. Jerome’s took all the light from my world. Everything I knew vanished behind me with an audible swish, like the sound a moose makes disappearing into spruce.” (43)

Wagamese writes with a powerful, raw honesty, not shying away from the realities of rape, starvation, beatings, and humiliation that plagued the school’s children; but neither using such details to garner effect. On a personal note, I believe the residential schools to be Canada’s greatest shame. Highly recommended.

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LibraryThing member LynnB

Saul Indian Horse grew up in Northern Ontario. His story is one all too familiar to Canada's aboriginal people: he watched his brother and sister taken by force to residential schools; his parents were addicted to alcohol, and his beloved grandmother died before Saul could care for himself. He,

too, was sent to residential school where he endured racism and abuse.

Saul's life was changed by hockey. He could play like a superstar, with outstanding speed and skill. Hockey was his ticket out of residential school, and off the reserve. But Saul's demons won't let him be free from his past. This is his story of trying to rebuild his life.

Well written, with an easy flow that makes the truth about Saul's past all the more horrifying. And yet, a ray of hope remains in Saul because of his strong character and the support of his community.

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LibraryThing member fiverivers

A CBC Canada Reads book, top 100 Globe and Mail listed, critically acclaimed, much discussed, Richard Wagamese's novel Indian Horse is deserving not only of accolades but your time. This is simply an excellent, fundamentally Canadian novel, beautifully and sparingly written, with grace, poise,

banked passion and heartbreaking insight.

Although a work of fiction, Wagamese draws from the lives of people he has known and lost, and because of that resonates with much earlier works by other great authors who wrote about similar struggles: John Howard Griffin's seminal work, Black Like Me, and even the now classic novel by Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird.

Wagamese tells the story of Saul Indian Horse, from happy Ojibway boy in Canada's bush, to bitter urban man who is flotsam in the wreckage created by white oppression, residential school brutality and hypocritical Canadian society. But this is also a story of discovery, of hope, of healing. And should be required reading for every individual in this nation.

Much of Saul's insight and struggle revolves around the boon and bane of hockey, which in essence becomes a metaphor for his life. His triumphs on the ice are the triumphs of his soul. His defeats and destruction at the hands of players and fans is his defeat in residential school, the logging camps and mines. The epiphany and vision he finds in hockey, is the epiphany and vision he finds for his own life. One universe coexists in tandem with the other. And all of this told in a highly readable and compelling manner.

If you haven't already read Indian Horse I urge you to go out right now and purchase a copy.

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LibraryThing member bucketofrhymes

Since Richard Wagamese died, I've been torn between a) reading all of his books and b) saving them because I've just realized there will never be a new Richard Wagamese book and I can't bear the thought of running out of his books.

So. A heartbreaking and disturbing look at residential schools,

racism, and hockey. Indian Horse should be required reading for Canadians.

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LibraryThing member visuallibrarian

Waiting for others to discover this leading Canadian author. A rich storyteller who captures the emotional journey of a trouble native boy who destination to become a great hockey player is challenged by his past.

LibraryThing member elizabeth1929

This story retells the adventures of Saul Indian Horse, an Ojibwa kid, who pretty much lost his entire family, and was found by some people and taken to a residential school. Then his life becomes worse (no surprise there), and he starts to isolate himself from the other kids. One day, a miracle in

the form of a hockey loving priest presented himself to Saul, and from there, their friendship blossomed. Saul found a beauty in hockey, and proceeded to find ways to play it. Since he was too young to play in an actual game, he asked to clean the ice at first, an excuse to wake up early in the morning to practice. Later, he found that he was gifted with a special sight that allowed him to observe the game, and predict what will happen next. He quickly became a well known hockey player.

I confess: I only picked this book up because I was promised bonus marks from my English teacher, and you know...you can never have too many bonus marks. This type of book is definitely not a genre you would ever see me picking up to read of my own volition, but I figured that since I love reading so much, I might as well read something that will earn me some bonus marks. I don't even have to write a paper or do an assignment on it...so really...I could have not read it, and my English teacher wouldn't be the wiser. In case you were wondering...I DID read it though.

***

Another confession: I was close to DNF-ing this book. The first forty or so pages nearly bored me to death, and I skimmed through most of it. There was so. Much. Information. I was absolutely overwhelmed. I'm the kind of reader who needs action to be entertained...and the first forty pages...Had. No. Action. Okay...so maybe I exaggerated a teensy bit...buuuut...my point still stands: not much happened. And I was bored.

After the fifty page mark, things finally started happening. I was getting the action I was pining for. Unfortunately, this action were the horrors that occurred within residential schools. Now, this was a Christian school, and being a Christian myself, you can imagine my shock when I read about all the dreadful things that happened to these poor kids under their care. It was horrifying. Suffice to say, this was when things finally started picking up, and I was hooked to the story. Fully invested, if you will.

The good news is that once I passed the peak of the great giant mountain that was the first forty pages of endless boredom, I really enjoyed the book. This book caused me to go into the much dreaded reading slump, but once I started getting into it, I went as far as neglecting my homework and pushing aside my studying for tests and quizzes until AFTER I've finished reading the book. No regrets. :)

Now the ending...the ending really was something. Or actually, to be more specific...the last fifteen or so chapters of the book was definitely NOT what I'd have expected. At all. Let's just say that the last parts of the book...weren't so great for Saul, and not the happily ever after that I (along with whoever reads the book) had hoped for Saul and his hockey career.

Also...I thought it vital to mention that I quite enjoyed this book even though I have no knowledge of hockey whatsoever. Before picking up this book to read, my English teacher briefly introduced the book and summarised the blurb on the back for us. I instantly thought it would be one of THOSE books where you would need to have at least SOME background knowledge of the subject lest you get lost in all the jargon and technical terms...but it wasn't like that! Huzzah!

Then there was my social studies teacher who saw the book I was reading and asked how I was liking it. Mind you, that was when I was still stuck in the measly first forty pages of absolute boredom. So I didn't really give her an answer...I only said something along the lines of: I'm not deep enough into the book to give you an accurate rating of the book. She then proceeded to explain to me how she read this book sometime last year and was so deeply entrenched in the book that her family had to tell her to put the book down and join the family. Now, if she loved it so much...it couldn't have been THAT bad, right? Right. It turned out to be pretty good. I'm glad I read it.

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LibraryThing member Laurenbdavis

A wonderful book. Subtle, profound, deeply moving and beautifully written. It should be on everyone's reading list.

LibraryThing member MaggieFlo

Ojibway Saul Indian Horse is sent to St. Jerome's residential school in Northern Ontario when he is nine years old in the 1960s. His experience is lonely and troubled until he discovers his love and ability at ice hockey. He is encouraged to develop his talent by one of the priests. He has

inherited a spiritual vision from his ancestors which allows him to anticipate plays and moves and excel beyond his wildest dreams. He moves to bigger and better teams and eventually to the Toronto Marlies. Along the way he encounters more challenges, in particular racism from white players and crowds. He eventually quits and begins drifting around and ends up as a drunk. When he hits rock bottom, he discovers the main reason for his rage and self loathing leads back to his residential school experience. His road to recovery begins when he acknowledges the sexual and physical abuse, racism his parents, friends and ancestors suffered and realizes that the only person who can get him out is himself. His journey realizes a very deep connection to his grandparents and other ancestors as well as a vital link to the natural world. He returns to his old friends the Kelly's and is on the road to recovery with a happy ending. I really enjoyed the story, the spirituality, the gentle humour and the prose of this book. It is very well written narrative of hope and belief in self determination.

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LibraryThing member Iudita

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.

LibraryThing member Lindsay_W

In Indian Horse, Richard Wagamese recounts the life of a northern Ojibway, Saul Indian Horse, as he embarks on a healing journey to come to terms with the truth about his experience in a native residential school. His unbreakable bond with the land and his strong spiritual connections ultimately

save him from alcoholism, but the abuse he suffered and the racism he endured have tainted all of his life experiences. Even his beloved hockey, which at first seems to save him from the residential school abuse, is in fact inextricably linked to it. It makes you ashamed to be a citizen of a country that inflicted this on their aboriginal people. A well-deserved people's-choice winner on 2013's Canada Reads.

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LibraryThing member janismack

Sad story about a boy that attended a residential school in the Canadian North. What kept him alive was the game of hockey. He does come to terms about the abuse he suffered at the school but it was difficult to say the least. This is just the tip of the iceberg of what these pour children endured

at these schools in the 50's and 60's.

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LibraryThing member DubaiReader

Definitely a book directed at Canadians.

I knew that children were sent to Australia from British orphanages, I knew that Aboriginal children were separated from their families 'for their own good'. I knew that children of Irish mothers were 'rehomed' without trace. Now I discover that Canadian

Indian children were also wrenched from their families and forced to live in barbaric schools. Here they learnt very little and were savagely beaten for minor infringements of the totally unrealistic rules. Their native language was banned and most of their days were spent in cleaning, farming or cooking, serving men and women who should never have been nuns or monks in the first place. Why is this becoming such a familiar scenario? Why are there so many evil people masquerading as Christians?

Saul Indian Horse comes from a loving Ojibway family. His grandparents are from the 'old way' but his parents' generation are Christian, living as their ancestors had, but confused about what they believe. They are, however, determined that Saul and his brother Benjamin will not be stolen away like their elder sister, never to be seen again.

Unfortunately, in spite of their best efforts, Saul finds himself at St Jerome's. Here he survives the loneliness and fear by totally engrossing himself in the game of ice hockey.

This is where the Canadian readers in our book group continued to be engrossed, while the non-Canadians got lost in a continuous description of hockey jargon. I found myself skipping large chunks of detailed descriptions of hockey games, exciting twirls on the back of the blade and bouncing off backboards. It sounds like an horrifically violent sport, but I was totally out of my depth in these passages, which formed a large proportion of the book.

This book had a strong message about survival and endurance and what it takes to overcome a traumatic childhood, and I would surely have been giving it 4 stars if it hadn't been so strongly biased towards ice hockey.
Recommended reading for Canadians.

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LibraryThing member TimBazzett

Richard Wagamese's novel, INDIAN HORSE, is an eye-opener, and one hell of a good story. Narrator Saul Indian Horse, a thirty-three year-old Canadian Native American (First Nation), is writing down his story as therapy, trying to come back from years of alcohol abuse. His life has been a mixture of

the grim and glorious. The grimness stems from his being orphaned and abandoned as a child, followed by years of abuse as a resident of a Northern Ontario Indian School run by priests and nuns. The glory comes with his prowess and natural ability as a hockey player, which takes him from the rag-tag school team, through the Reserve and mill town bush leagues all the way up to a farm team for the Maple Leafs, where it all falls apart when Saul finds himself the target of hatred and racism. Quitting all of it he roams rootlessly for years, drowning it all in alcohol.

Wagamese blends native culture and rituals with the influences of white civilization - mostly bad - and the hockey madness that Canada is famous for and creates a story that will grab you and keep you reading deep into the night.

I had wanted to read this book ever since reading another book about hockey, also by a Canadian, Brian Fawcett's excellent THE LAST OF THE LUMBERMEN. I'm glad I finally did. The truth is I don't play hockey or even watch it, but both authors are good enough that I was mesmerized, and yes, a lot of both books are all about HOCKEY! INDIAN HORSE is a moving, eloquent and disturbing look at life in Canada's First Nation back in the 60s and 70s, and Saul Indian Horse is a character you will remember. Highly recommended.

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LibraryThing member Schatje

The narrator of this novel is Saul Indian Horse, a First Nations former hockey star undergoing treatment for alcoholism. In rehab he is encouraged to tell his story as a form of healing and so he writes what amounts to his autobiography.

Saul is an Ojibway from northern Ontario; at the age of

eight, in the early 1960s, he is placed in a government-sanctioned, church-run residential school where “There were no grades or examinations. The only test was our ability to endure.” There, like so many Native children, he experiences and/or witnesses beatings, rapes, and countless humiliations. He describes life at the school, the place which “took all the light from my world,” as hell on earth: “When your innocence is stripped from you, when your people are denigrated, when the family you came from is denounced and your tribal ways and rituals, are pronounced backward, primitive, savage, you come to see yourself as less than human. That is hell on earth, that sense of unworthiness. That’s what they inflicted on us.”

What saves Saul is the game of hockey introduced to him by a young priest, a game for which Saul proves to have an almost preternatural understanding. His natural talent and determination to perfect his skills make a career in the sport a possibility, but as his opportunities increase so does the racism he faces.

I know a bit about the abuse faced by children who were forcibly removed from their families and suffered physical, sexual, and emotional abuse in residential schools, but this is the first novel I have read written from the perspective of a survivor. It is the details of the abuse that are shocking, but it is their very specificity that adds credibility to this work of fiction. The author’s emotionally restrained style in which he avoids gratuitous details and an accusatory tone - and even remains polite - ensures that the reader cannot dismiss the novel as a bitter diatribe which exaggerates for the sake of effect.
It is clear who bears responsibility for the abuse and its consequences for future generations, but Saul is also given some advice about healing: “’They scooped out our insides, Saul. We’re not responsible for that. We’re not responsible for what happened to us. None of us are. . . . But our healing – that’s up to us. That’s what saved me. Knowing it was my game.’”

The one part of the book I did not enjoy is the descriptions of the many hockey games. I am not a fan of hockey (a blasphemous admission for a Canadian) and know little about it and so found my eyes glazing over in the sections detailing technicalities of the sport. It is not necessary to become tediously repetitive to make it obvious that hockey provides an escape Saul and that he is an exceptionally talented player. I will admit, however, that the use of Canada’s national game as a metaphor for Saul’s plight (and that of other aboriginal youth) is genius: a young man has the talent and work ethic to strive for the dream of Canadian youth – a shot at the National Hockey League – but the dream may be unattainable because of systemic racism.

Stories are an integral part of Saul’s culture. One man tells Saul, “’Ojibways are the best storytellers I know’” although Saul thinks that his people have “stepped beyond the influence of our legends. That was a border my generation crossed, and we pine for a return.” But in rehab Saul is told that it is necessary for him to know and understand his story in order to heal his broken spirit. Likewise, it is necessary for all of us to know and understand our hiSTORY.

I’m starting a list of should-read novels for all Canadians; in the First Nations category, I have thus far included "Three Day Road" by Joseph Boyden and "Incidents in the Life of Markus Paul" by David Adams Richards. "Indian Horse" now joins the list. It forces us to face the shameful part of our history in which it was not the victims of residential schools that were the savages.

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LibraryThing member LibraryCin

The book is set mostly in the 1950s and 1960s. Residential schools were set up by Christian groups to rid the Indians of their language and culture. Saul Indian Horse is still a little boy when he loses his entire family and is taken to a residential school in Ontario. While there, he teaches

himself to play hockey and loses himself in the game. He becomes an amazing player and hockey continues to be his life when a family “adopts” him into their home and brings him out of the residential school after 7 years there. The book follows Saul as he becomes an adult, and everything he goes through.

To be honest, I wasn't completely sure what I would think of this book, but I was really impressed. This was really good. Hockey was an important part of the book, but I don't think you need to be a hockey fan to like the book. (I should add, though, that I used to be a big hockey fan, though it's been a long time since I've been interested.) There are sections of the book where the descriptions of the hockey do dominate, but I think there is enough of a story otherwise to keep even those who don't like hockey interested.

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LibraryThing member gypsysmom

Such an excellent book but a distressing read. However, I'm really glad it was chosen as one of the finalists for Canada Reads. I might not have read it otherwise because it wasn't a book that I'd heard about.

Saul Indian Horse is an Ojibway Indian growing up in North-Western Ontario. Two of his

siblings have been taken away from the family and put in residential schools. Saul's grandmother is determined they won't get Saul. When Saul's brother runs away from the school she convinces the family to go upriver to Gods Lake. Saul's brother has contracted TB though and he dies. His parents decide to take him back to civilization to bury him the Christian way. Saul and the grandmother stay at the camp until it is almost frozen. They canoe back to Minaki in the bitter cold. Saul's grandmother dies holding him close and that is the last kindness he ever knows.

He is taken to a residential school and witnesses unspeakable things. But one priest teaches him about hockey and it becomes his passion. In fact, hockey even gets him away from the school eventually because he is so good. He lives with an Ojibway family and plays on an Indian hockey team and goes to a real school. Then he is scouted for the NHL and goes to Toronto. The racism he faces takes away the joy he finds in the game. From then on his life goes downhill until he reaches rock bottom.

Since the Truth and Reconciliation Committee has started hearings Canadians have learned a lot about what occurred at residential schools. I've felt guilt and sorrow and disgust as the truths have been told. However, I never felt like I was right there until I read this book. From what I can tell Wagamese didn't actually attend a residential school but he must know many people who have. Non-aboriginals should read this book if only to understand what it was like to live in residential schools. But there is a lot more to it than just that. The descriptions of the country, the people and the hockey games are amazing. And then the ending is like coming out of the dark into a warm lighted home.

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LibraryThing member DanielSTJ

A powerhouse of a book. It captures emotion, sensibility and loneliness all in one place. Very well done.

LibraryThing member roxyrolla

Just finished this book today, and I honestly can't believe it was that good! I would never have chosen to even read this book if it wasn't chosen for my book club by someone else, but once I got into it, I could barely put it down. Some real tear jerking moments, and some very uplifting moments.

Really wonderful, I'll be recommending it to everyone!

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LibraryThing member Nickelini

Saul Indian Horse is an Objiwe boy who grew up in the forests around the Ontario-Manitoba border. When he is 8 yrs old, he is forced into a residential school. Despite the brutality of his life, he learns to play hockey and is a talented athlete. Throughout his teens, he uses hockey as an escape

from his horrors. Unfortunately, the racism he experiences from other players and fans sours him, and he ends up living a nomadic life doing temporary labour jobs and falling into alcoholism. By facing his demons, he overcomes and starts a new/old life.

Indian Horse was defended in 2013 Canada Reads, and was nominated for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.

Why I Read This Now: book club

Recommended for: a broad audience and anyone who doesn't know about a black mark on Canada's history -- the residential school.

Rating: Indian Horse is a solid "good read." It's compelling, very well written, and moves along thanks to short chapters. Personally for me there was way too much hockey, so I take off half a star for that. 3.5 stars.

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LibraryThing member RidgewayGirl

Saul Indian Horse is just a young boy when he is taken to live in a residential school, a boarding school set up to force First Nations children to lose their native way of life. It's a brutal life where many don't survive, and those that do are broken, but Saul finds an outlet and escape in

hockey, playing first with other boys from the school, but then moving on to the Native League and further.

Richard Wagamese packs so much into this slender book, and does so with the assurance of a master at his craft. There's a real joy communicated as Saul plays hockey, and the harshness of his childhood is written about with a matter-of-factness that makes the abuse seem both routine and extraordinary. There's a grace to this harsh tale that will stay with me.

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LibraryThing member Lauranthalas

Saul Indian Horse has hit rock bottom and is in a treatment center for alcoholics. He isn’t one to speak in group, for fear of people not understanding, so he has finally decided to write down his story to heal. Indian Horse takes you on a journey of Saul’s life, the Ojibway tribe and how the

government took the kids, hockey, and other moments leading up to him being in the treatment center. Filled with so many emotions – love, hope, fear, sorrow, despair, anger, etc. – Indian Horse is a novel that you won’t forget anytime soon.

Overall an excellent read. I loved the parts about the Ojibway tribe but could have done with fewer hockey sections

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LibraryThing member Rdra1962

Canada Reads selection. This book should be mandatory reading for every Canadian; for every person who lives in a country they or their forefathers invaded and imposed their values,their "way of life" upon. Beautifully written book, haunting and rewarding. The reviews on Goodreads for this book are

some of the most thoughtful I have seen for any book - and that is testament to how incredibly worthy this book is. Buy it, read it.

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LibraryThing member Romonko

This book is poetry in motion. The motion of a young native boy growing up in the bush with his close family. The motion of tremendous loss. The motion of people who just can't take the loss anymore. The motion of hockey and all the things and life lessons that entails. The motion of despair. The

motion of lost innocence. The motion of the long fall down, and the motion of recovery. This is a book about Saul Indian Horse who went through all the motions above before he finally broke, and then going through them all again in retrospect to put himself back together. Richard Wagamese's writing is some of the most beautiful prose that you'll ever encounter. His descriptions of nature, people and the game of hockey (in this book) are breathtaking. His description of the disease of alcoholism will rip your heart out. "Booze is the ultimate device. It lets you go on breathing, but not really living, It lets you move but not remember. It lets you do but not feel." Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese. This is what Saul tells his brother and best friend when describing his fall. On the other side of the coin, the beauty and humanity - "The game is always the same, its speed and power. Hockey's grace and poetry makes men beautiful. Dreams unfold right before your eyes, conjured by a stick and a puck." - Richard Wagamese, Indian Horse. This book says everything you need to hear about the tough subjects. Racism, hypocrisy, lecherousness, separation, despair, hopelessness, the travesty of residential schools and it also shows the strength of family, history, faith and healing. How can Richard Wagamese do that in only 218 pages? Wagamese was a master storyteller, and the world is a sadder place without him in it. I highly recommend this book, and all of his other books. No Canadian should miss the chance to read his stories of this land and it's people.

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LibraryThing member charlie68

This book left a bad taste in my mouth. But I suppose depicting life in a Residential School and other disturbing things it wasn't going to be a feel good type of story. But the theme of ice hockey brought back a lot of memories and made the time worthwhile.

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