A story isn't a story until you discover the problem driving characters to act.
Life is disrupted by the agents for the residential school system. Indigenous families must flee to protect their children, from being stolen and taken to the schools. Their entire way of living shifts as they move away from traditional ways of living and land.
Plot - up to page 30
- introduced to Saul Indian Horse, family and territory
- Flashes back to when the horse arrived to their culture, brought by Saul's great- grandfather, the horse (first brought by Zhaunagush- white people)symbolic for great changes that will happen & people must rely on spirit teachings of the horse
- 1961 - threat of residential school, Saul's brother Ben and sister taken..
- parents and grand-parents on the move, working as transients
- Ben escapes residential school, sick with TB and family goes to Gods Lake and traditional ways- then landslide (foreshadows tragedy)
- Ben dies of TB pg. 30
- Setting
Wilderness of Northern Ontario and Manitoba
Land- untamed thing of lakes, rivers, bogs and marshes
sparkling water, citadels of bush and rock, labyrinthine weave of country.
bush camp- transient workers, alcoholism, rutted, muddy roads, desolate and sad
Characters
Saul- protagonist of the novel, the narrator and told as an autobiography. A boy in a family of three children. Story opens with Saul's experience in an alcohol treatment centre.
Saul's brother Benjamin- taken to residential school when Saul is four years old. Escapes residential school and joins Saul's family then dies of TB.
Tall, thin, tough and resilient .
Saul's sister- taken away to residential school. Unknown to Saul.
Saul's mother- heart-broken by the loss of her sons. Withdrawn and hard to know her true character.
Saul's father- heart-broken like mother and turns to alcohol.
Symbolism
Indian Horse- the coming of the change, the arrival of Europeans
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