Table of ContentsIntroductionIndian Horse: Saul's TraumaConclusionIntroductionA good childhood experience greatly reflects how you act as you get older, a child's school life should be memorable and should be able to apply lessons to their own lives, but unfortunately, that's not what Saul Indian Horse can relate to. The novel Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese illustrates the trauma and abuse that Saul Indian Horse endures at St Jeromes, an Indian residential school where nuns and priests are required to teach them Canadian culture. Children are taken from their families and forced to live in these boarding schools and forced to follow their ways. Saul is negatively impacted by the residential through his identity through being separated from his family, stripping him of his culture that made him feel unworthy, and through the endurance of the trauma and abuse he experiences. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Indian Horse: Saul's TraumaSaul was taken from his family by the white men also known as the Zhanagush in St. Jermomes. Both Naiomi and Saul were on their way to Minaki to meet her nephew Minoose. On the way, they encountered many obstacles such as the canoe breaking down in the river and not having much clothing to keep them warm. Once we arrived in Minaki, Naiomi stopped by. with Saul in his arms and Zhanagush spots him and takes him to his car with a blanket over him. Saul says, “Someone lifted me up. I felt the old woman's arms fall, I held out my hand to her, shouting in a mixture of Ojibwe and English. She remained slumped in the corner, her hair covered in snow, her hands cupped as if she were still holding me. I wanted to get her back on her feet so we could continue walking. But instead I was swept away.” Saul was heartbroken and afraid, he did not want to be separated from his grandmother and wanted to continue walking with her. He doesn't want to leave her corpse there, Saul and his grandmother Naomi are very close to each other, Saul loves her very much, she did everything she could to keep him safe. Her grandmother is part of her identity and the white man took that part of her identity away from her. His grandmother is the only person he knows who will always care for him and be there for him. Being separated from his grandmother was very heartbreaking for Saul, but nothing more so than the loss of his culture. In Saint-Jérôme, many children are beaten and deprived of their culture and rituals which break their human spirit. The children who come to residential schools are children who have their own culture and their own rituals that are part of their identity, just like Saul, but are taken away by the schools. Saul says, “When your innocence is taken away from you, your people are denigrated, your family is denounced, and your tribal customs and rituals are declared backward, primitive, savage, you come to see yourself as less than 'human. It's hell on earth, this feeling of unworthiness. It is obvious that the children of Saint-Jerome and Saul are stripped of everything, their language, their clothing, their rituals and their traditions. It made them feel unworthy and worthless. Saul describes the schools as "hell on earth", meaning that they never treated this place as a school but as daily torture. It also shows that the threats and beatings have demeaned the children, including Saul, and that by instilling this fear in them, it robs Saul of his identity all together..