Cultural Analysis on the Experiences of the Indigenous People of Canada Essay Example

The Indigenous people of Canada have faced endless amounts of racism and discrimination ever since the colonization of Canada in the 16th century. The experiences of the Indigenous people of Canada can be seen throughout “The Night Wanderer” by Drew Hayden Taylor, “Indian Horse” by Richard Wagamese and “Cottagers and Indians” also by Drew Hayden Taylor. Indigenous people of Canada have remained resilient throughout all the effects of colonization, racism and identity conflicts and this is made obvious within the literature when each of the main characters overcomes the hardships of being an Indigenous person in Canada. 

In the  novel “Indian Horse” by Richard Wagamese, the reader can see that Saul as well as his family and other children in the residential school are facing multiple challenges such as sovereignty, bigotry and cultural ignorance all due to being an Indigenous person of Canada. Throughout the novel it becomes apparent that Saul is deeply affected by the repercussions that Residential schools had on his family. In the novel it is stated by Saul that “it was the school that had turned my mother so far inward she sometimes ceased to exist in the outside world.” (Wagamese, 12) This proves to the reader that the grasp the Residential schools had on Saul’s mother created intergenerational trauma within the Indian Horse family which caused her have a very faint, distant feel to her. “It was the school that Naomi hid us from,” (12) tells the reader that Naomi, Saul’s grandmother saw the effects that the Residential schools had on her children and so she was set out to protect her grandchildren as best as possible from being taken and forcibly white washed by both the government and the catholic church. The novel also illustrates the hold that bigotry has on the Indigenous people, and this is made clear when it is revealed that “there was no tolerance for Indian talk” (52) in the school, and if the children were caught speaking “in that language could get you beaten or banished to the box in the basement.(52) This proposal of abuse and banishment for speaking in the language they were taught proves that the church and the government were trying to obliterate the Indigenous population just because they were not the same as the European colonizers.  Finally, “Indian Horse” makes it abundantly clear that the Indigenous culture was on the brink of extinction. In the novel it is apparent that Naomi, the grandmother was pushing to keep traditions in the family alive, especially after the death of Saul’s brother Ben. However, Saul’s mother is against the traditional ways and wishes for “a proper burial.” (34) Christianity has been inscribed within her and believes Naomi to be a “heathen” (34) for trying to keep the traditions alive, but her ignorance prevents Saul from learning more about his culture therefore forcing him away from having a deep understanding of his cultural awareness.