Hockey is more than just a simple sport for Saul Indian Horse, in fact hockey is not just about the brawls, glory or any of that for Saul. Hockey is almost magical in the role it plays for him in “Indian Horse” by Richard Wagamese. To start, Saul’s life before hockey was bleak and treacherous, Saul's introduction to hockey brightened his life and allowed him to take the weight of the world off his back. Next, hockey gave Saul an opportunity. Saul possesses an incredible work effort and natural talent for the sport that gave him opportunities not many indigenous people had back in the 70’s. Lastly, Saul found his happiness in hockey even through all the adversity he had to face. Hockey gave Saul hope, hockey gave Saul freedom and opportunity, …show more content…
Saul always excelled at hockey, among his peers in the residential school he was the most talented due to his work ethic, combined with his natural talent of seeing the game. Accordingly, Saul was so good that Fred Kelly offered to adopt him. “The Kellys would be your legal guardians, Saul.” Saul responded “I could play hockey?” (Wagamese 94) Thereupon Fred Kelly was giving Saul an opportunity to live a safe life, away from the residential school, essentially freedom. Hence, Saul did not get this by chance, he earned it through his hard work. Saul’s work effort was like no other, Saul practiced with “frozen horse turds” (Wagamese 61) when he had no equipment, because of his passion and dedication. Saul was willing to practice with horse turds just to hone his wrist shot. Saul’s level of talent and the amount of hard work he put in, made him stand out among his peers. Another time Saul was given a good opportunity for his skill and work ethic was when Jack Lanahan of the Toronto Marlies told him “I think you could play at a higher level.” (Wagamese 149). Jack offered Saul a shot at playing semi-pro hockey. If Saul had not put the amount of work he did in, he would never have been noticed by the
As stated in my thesis statement, the sport of hockey has been forced to compete with the growing mass popularity with other sports such as basketball and football. There once was a point in time where hockey had just as much popularity as those sports but because people are finding more interest in those sports, the National Hockey League found itself in a “drought” of unimportance with other sports. With not televising the sport as “commonly” as other sports.
Saul Indian Horse is an Ojibway child who grew up in a land which offered little contact with anyone belonging to a different kind of society until he was forced to attend a residential school in which children were being stripped away of their culture with the scope of assimilating them into a more “civilized” community. Saul’s childhood in the school, greatly pervaded by psychological abuse and emotional oppression, was positively upset once one of the priests, Father Leboutillier, introduced him to the world of hockey, which soon become his sole means of inclusion and identification, mental well-being and acknowledged self-worth in his life. It is though universally acknowledged how, for every medal, there are always two inevitably opposite
In the introduction, Hämäläinen introduces how Plains Indians horse culture is so often romanticized in the image of the “mounted warrior,” and how this romanticized image is frequently juxtaposed with the hardships of disease, death, and destruction brought on by the Europeans. It is also mentioned that many historians depict Plains Indians equestrianism as a typical success story, usually because such a depiction is an appealing story to use in textbooks. However, Plains Indians equestrianism is far from a basic story of success. Plains equestrianism was a double-edged sword: it both helped tribes complete their quotidian tasks more efficiently, but also gave rise to social issues, weakened the customary political system, created problems between other tribes, and was detrimental to the environment.
The novel “Indian Horse” by Richard Wagamese demonstrates the many conflicts that indigenous people encounter on a daily basis. This includes things such as, the dangers they face and how they feel the need to flee to nature, where they feel the most safe. Another major issue they face is being stripped of their culture, and forcibly made to believe their culture is wrong and they are less of a human for being brought up that way, it makes them feel unworthy. Finally, when one is being criticised for a hobby they enjoy due to their indigenous upbringing, they make himself lose interest and stop the hobby as it makes them different and provokes torment. People who are trying
Both Saul Indian Horse and Winston Smith use writing as a means of survival from repression. In Indian Horse, Saul uses writing as a means of seeing what made him turn away from the pain of his rape and cease repressing its happening; for him survive and live on with his life. Saul writes memoirs to find the hidden answers of why he turned to violence and alcoholism and using them to break free of the cycle. From pages two to three Saul says “They say I can’t understand where I’m going if I don’t understand where I’ve been. The answers are within me, according to them. By telling our stories, hardcore drunks like me can set ourselves free from the bottle and the life that took us there …. So Moses gave me permission to write things down. So
Terrence and Jordin Tootoo grew up in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, in Canada’s arctic region. They were like other Inuit children in Rankin Inlet in many respects: They were brought up to respect the customs of their people and they enjoyed the resources the land around them provided- they learned to hunt and fish for food like the others. However, the brothers were also different from their peers in one main respect- they were blessed with a love for the game of hockey, and also with extraordinary amounts of talent which would enable them to leave their native community to pursue the dream of professional hockey. While the brothers were growing up they were inseparable; however, after leaving Rankin Inlet to pursue the professional game their respective careers took strikingly different paths. Jordin’s journey took him to the top- he was drafted into the National Hockey League and signed a lucrative contract with the Nashville Predators. However, Terrence’s road to the professional ranks was filled with hardship and tragedy, ultimately resulting in his suicide in August of 2002. The contrasting paths taken by the brothers is an illustration of how professional sporting careers can have varying impacts on the lives of Native American and Canadian athletes and their communities. In the following few paragraphs I will outline the history of Native Americans and Canadians in sports. I will examine how successful Native athletes are able to help their communities, both financially and by serving as role models for younger Natives. Also, I will argue that their still exist barriers and challenges to Native athletes that do not confront other athletes. For example, Native athletes are often placed under increased scrutiny because of their positions as role models. I will conclude by commenting on how Native athletes fit into pro sports today, and speculate on what can be done to increase the amount of success enjoyed by Natives.
The defining moment of the importance of hockey in Canada was “The Goal of the Century” in 1972. It was the evening of September 28th; the site was Moscow – U.S.S.R. In the midst of the Cold War, a game-winning goal by Canadian hockey player Paul Henderson at the end of the third period with only 34 seconds left on the clock vaulted Canada to a victory at the Summit Series and put them on top of the hockey world. The heart and character of Canadian hockey internationally began. “The exact moment of that spectacular goal has become a reference point in our national collective consciousness.”- R. Eagleson (Foreword). It was the climatic goal watched by almost every Canadian, and their pride swelled to amazing heights. Hockey is more than just a game in Canada, it is a celebrated history. Hockey is Canada’s identity. “Hockey captures the essence of Canadian experience in the New World. In a land so inescapably and inho...
Over the past two centuries, First Nations people have been oppressed by the Canadian society and continue to live under racism. The struggles, injustices, prejudice, and discrimination has played a significant role in the construction and impact of how they are treated and viewed in the modern society. Saul Indian Horse from Richard Wagamese's "Indian Horse" and Chanie Wenjack from Gord Downie's "The Stranger" are the perfect examples of how the belief that First Nations were inferior to the Europeans impacted the Aboriginal generations. However, both of the characters can be compared and contrasted by the following ways. As they both go through the breakdown of family bonds and the traumatic sufferings of residential schools, but they differ
When we have to face challenges, people deal with those in different ways. Sometimes it is easy to just ignore these difficulties. However, to overcome an obstacle, we have to face and deal with it. In this book, “Indian Horse” by an Ojibway writer, Richard Wagamese presents this beautiful novel to the reader concerning a tragic life of a boy, Saul Indian Horse. The protagonist, hero of this novel was in a period and a place where his native sources were not acknowledged in the world. He experienced many catastrophes just to see how the society treats him without the help of anybody. By discovering Saul losing the ability to trust and being abandoned by his family members, causing himself harm and harden himself. Also, this affects the growth
What is a Clydesdale Horses? The first time Clydesdale was used in 1826 by Scotland. This research paper will help people who are interest in learning what a Clydesdale Horse is. This research paper will talk about the horse, how are they used, the weight and the height, and what they eat.
The Arabian or Arab horse is a breed of horse that originated on the Arabian Peninsula. With a distinctive head shape and high tail carriage, the Arabian is one of the most easily recognizable horse breeds in the world. It is also one of the oldest breeds, with archaeological evidence of horses in the Middle East that resemble modern Arabians dating back 4,500 years. Throughout history, Arabian horses have spread around the world by both war and trade, used to improve other breeds by adding speed, refinement, endurance, and strong bone. Today, Arabian bloodlines are found in almost every modern breed of riding horse.
God put many creatures on this earth one including horses. I actually have a horse, well actually he’s my grandpa’s but I ride him, also his name is Navajo. He’s a pinto-quarter horse. He’s not all the way broke in, meaning you can ride him, but he still bucks and kicks. He’s very gentle with children. All in all I really enjoy horses especially caring for them, I like tacking up and going for a ride, horses are really fun to feed, and to design their stalls.
Horses were once wild animals and were hunted for meat and especially for their hide which was used to make clothes, tools and tents. There where families of horses that were dog-sized roaming through the forests that covered North America. Due to changing climate conditions the grasslands expanded which expanded the variety of species and the horses grew larger.
Its as if horse riding runs through my family’s blood. My grandmother rode horses, my mother rode horses, and she eventually passed that love to me. Growing up hearing about all the amazing things my mom had done with this sport made me want to go out and experience it myself. From a young age my mom encouraged me to love horses, but she never really had to. I had a love for these gentle giants all on my own.
Early horses evolved from tiny, four-toed, forest dwellers that were possibly no more than a foot tall roaming through the forests of North America. For more than half of their history horses remained as small forest browsers. Changes in climate conditions permitted grasslands to grow and from these changes many new species of horses evolved as well as the human animal relationship. All mammals including horses at one point in time shared a common feature and that was five toes. “Over millions of years, many horse species lost most of their side toes.