Indian Horse Should Be Required Reading for All Canadians

By Alexis Kienlen
Daily Herald Tribun
August 23, 2013

http://www.dailyheraldtribune.com/2013/08/22/indian-horse-should-be-required-reading-for-all-canadians

This past week, I finally got around to reading Richard Wagamese’s book Indian Horse. I’ve been a long-time fan of Wagamese and have read some of his previous novels and non-fiction work.

Wagamese is an Ojibway writer who currently lives in British Columbia. His book Indian Horse should be required reading for all Canadians. The book was a 2012 Globe and Mail notable book, and a 2013 Canada Reads contender.

Many people have heard about the horrors of residential school, but Indian Horse does its best to take the reader into the school and gives those horrors an emotional impact. Saul Indian Horse is an older Ojibway who is looking back at his life. To help himself heal, he has decided to write a diary to tell the story of his life and what happened to him.

Saul’s parents were damaged by the residential school system, and they have already lost one of their children to the system. They move through the bush of northern Ontario like nomads, trying to flee the people who will take their children from them. At one point, Saul becomes separated from the other members of his family, and is left alone with only his grandma.