Aboriginals In Richard Wagamese's Indian Horse

Individuals, who are surrounded with agony by mistreatment at an early phase, often leave with wounds in which can trouble their lives. In Richard Wagamese’s Indian Horse, the Aboriginal children struggle with traumatization caused by dreadful brutality from the white people at the St. Jerome’s Residential School. Unfortunately for the children, the abuse leaves them upset for a lifetime. The children experience cruel abuse, which leading to leaving them mentally damaged.

The indigenous people have a long and proud history, including the rich cultural and spiritual traditions. However, many of these traditions have been changed or even disappeared after the arrival of the European settlers. Forced introduction of European culture and values, Aboriginal community, indigenous land being deprived, and the imposition of a period of governance outside the pattern of the beginning of a cycle of social, physical and spiritual destruction. You can see the effects of today. Some of the effects include poverty, poor health, and drug abuse. The basis of these problems is a loss of identity and a sense of knowing that their values are oppressed, and their rights are ignored. Likewise, non-indigenous Canadians have become increasingly aware of the unfairness of the richness of indigenous and aboriginal cultures that are taking place.

Richard Wagamese’s semi-autobiographical novel Keeper’n Me paints the portrait of a young man’s experience—one shared by many Indigenous peoples across Canada—revealing a new perspective on Aboriginal life. First Nations have often been romanticized and the subject of Western fantasies rather than Indigenous truth concerning Aboriginal ways rooted in “respect, honor, kindness, sharing and much, much love” (Wagamese, 1993 quote). Keeper’n Me tells the story of Garnet Raven, an Ojibway, who is taken from his family as a child by the Children’s Aid Society, and placed in a number of (white) foster families, where his Indigenous identity is stripped away. He serves time for drug charges, during which he receives a letter from his brother, inviting him back to the White Dog Reserve to rekindle ties with his people and learn about Ojibway culture, traditions, spirituality, and philosophy with the help of his community and his teacher, Keeper, an elder and recovering alcoholic who was instructed in his earlier years by Raven’s grandfather. In viewing the novel through the theoretical frameworks of the “Middle Ground”, “Orientalism”, and “Agency”, Keeper’n Me explores Canadian-Indigenous relations in a moving, yet humorous way, as well as the meaning of “being” a First Nation in modern society,

Discrimination is a widely known problem faced in society today, affecting thousands of people mentally and emotionally. In the 2013 published novel, Indian Horse, by Richard Wagamese, Saul Indian Horse encounters several day to day racist comments and discrimination as he first steps into the hockey rink. Throughout the novel, Wagamese teaches the readers, that racial discrimination can abuse and affect one into either gaining a ruthless and tempered behaviour, or pushing them to a psychological state of mental torture and isolation. In the duration of all this, Saul must prove himself to be mentally and emotionally strong, as he is first exposed to the substantial amount of racial discrimination made by the domination of white people in his

These lyrics from Bruce Woodley’s iconic song ‘I am Australian’ encapsulate the essence of the Australian identity: unity, equality and a fair go for all. However, underneath the surface of our seemingly egalitarian society, the statement ‘we are many’ is the only one that remains. We are a nation divided. Divided by the historic mistreatment of the first inhabitants of our land. Divided by the disadvantage, discrimination and dispossession of Indigenous Australians. Divided by the lack of true equality for all Australians. If we lack this basic equality, how can we say with good conscience that we are an egalitarian society?

Residential Schools was an enormous lengthening event in our history. Residential schools were to assimilate and integrate white people’s viewpoints and values to First Nations children. The schools were ran by white nuns and white priests to get rid of the “inner Indian” in the children. In residential schools, the children suffered immensely from physical, emotional, sexual and spiritual abuse. Although the many tragedies, language was a huge loss by the First Nations children. One of the worst punishments in residential schools was for speaking their own language. The use of residential schools on First Nations has led to substantial loss of the indigenous languages, therefore, causing further cultural losses to First Nations people.

The Ngunnawal People have been living within the borders and surrounding mountains of the Australian Capital Territory for over 25,000 years. The way the Indigenous people used the land to live off was extremely efficient and sustainable. They had a bounty of knowledge about the land surrounding them, and over generations, devised resourced management skills to ensure maintenance of the animals and plants, and most importantly, the land in which provided these things. Aboriginal culture existed long before Captain Cook arrived in Australia in 1770. He claimed the land to be "Terra-Nullius", meaning that the land did not belong to any person. This claim obviously seemed ludicrous and crazy to the Indigenous people whom already lived on the land.

The township of Woorabinda is in Central Queensland, approximately 180km west of Gladstone. Woorabinda was established in the late 1920’s because Aboriginal peoples were being forcefully removed from their traditional lands at Taroom so early settlers could develop these lands. Woorabinda is situated on the traditional lands of the Wadja Wadja/Wadjigu and Gangula Aboriginal peoples according to the anthropologist Norman Tindale. Tindale documented in 1938 the residents of Woorabinda represented 47 clans, which included people from all over Queensland, New South Wales and the Northern Territory. (N, Tindale, 1974)

Battered Woman Syndrome has provided women who have been abused at the hands of their partners recognition in the criminal justice system and is allowing women to tell their stories. Although there are controversies surrounding battered woman syndrome, it should not be viewed as an excuse for killing their partners. It is a real disorder that has affected thousands of women 's lives all over the world. Discussing the Gladys Heavenfire case will bring awareness to the life of a woman who has been abused by her partner for several years. Furthermore, it provides information on Indigenous women who are more likely to suffer abuse than white women. Indigenous people have been discriminated and have been extremely mistreated

Indigenous peoples of Canada have been considered inferior to all other citizens, and have been abused and neglected through European history, and can be seen as a form of genocide. In Canadian residential schools, children were removed from the home, sexually assaulted, beaten, deprived of basic human necessities, and over 3 500 women and girls were sterilized, and this went on well into the 1980 's (Nicoll 2015). The dehumanization of Indigenous peoples over the generations has left a significant impact on society today; the generational trauma has left many Indigenous peoples heavily dependent of drugs and alcohol, and the vulnerability of Indigenous women has led to extremely high rates of violent crime towards these women. A report that

The first of these unwelcoming teams being the team he played on in town while attending St. Jerome’s Residential School. After playing only few games with them, he was told that he was no longer wanted on the team. When Father Leboutilier tells Saul this he says, “…There is no game for you. They don’t want you to play anymore, Saul.” (Wagamese, 91) When Saul asks why he is no longer on the team, he is told that it is because he is too good of a player. Later, when Saul asks, “It’s because I’m Indian, isn’t it?” (Wagamese, 91) it is revealed that he is right, and that that is the real reason they don’t want him on the team any longer. Saul is not allowed to play on a hockey team because of the color of his skin, the language that he speaks, and the culture he was born unto. He is not a Zhaunagush, a white boy, so can’t play on their team. This is not the only time that Saul was not warmly welcomed on a team. He faces the same thing when he plays as a rookie on the NHL training team. He is not kicked off of this team, but they still are not fully accepting of Saul. In the novel, Saul exclaims that he was never called any disrespecting or racially profiling names, but he is never called by his actual name either. He states that they only ever addressed him as “Thirteen”. Saul gives some examples of this by saying, “‘Thirteen don’t talk much’… Or, ‘thirteen never smiles.’” (Wagamese, 162-163) With the team not calling him rude names, but also not by his real name, the novel demonstrates that the NHL team does not necessarily hate Saul, but that they do not fully accept him either. Saul is still an Indian and the rest of the players are still white, so Saul would never get the acceptance of the team that he may have wanted. Therefore, even though Saul and the other players are all still playing the sport they love together, Saul is still not full accepted, still making him an

In Indigenous Australians’ perspective, country means everything consisting of the air, water, land and stories of “Dreaming”. Country is dynamic and multilayered, forming culture, values and beliefs of existence between human and species. Country connects Indigenous Australian to their ancestral beings from the time of creation. Every living creature, family, kin and community is integral part and connected to the country. Loss of country precipitated by land dispossession is tantamount to loss of identity, family and independence.

In Chapter eight of Byron Williston’s Environmental Ethics for Canadians First Nation’s perspectives are explored. The case study titled “Language, Land and the Residential Schools” begins by speaking of a public apology from former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He apologizes for the treatment of “Indians” in “Indian Residential Schools”. He highlights the initial agenda of these schools as he says that the “school system [was] to remove and isolate [Aboriginal] children from the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures, and to assimilate them[…]” (Williston 244). By doing this, colonial Canadians assumed that aboriginal cultural and spiritual beliefs were invalid in relation to European beliefs (244). The problem with ridding the First Nations Peoples of their languages, as Williston points out is to “deprive them of the sense of place that has defined them for thousands of years” (245). The private schooling system was an attack on First Nations identities, and their identity is rooted in “a respect for nature and its processes” (245).

The way that society sees you should not depend on the colour of your skin. Even today, in the 21st century, people in our society judge other human beings by their colour or race. One of the main racism issues is the discrimination towards our Indigenous people. National data from the Challenging Racism Project reveals that 27% of Aboriginal people over the age of 15 experience racism more than once in their life. Racism towards Indigenous Australians includes mostly verbal abuse such as name-calling and insulting language. Exclusion from workplaces and social events also plays a major part in the racial discrimination. Do we really want Australia to be seen as such a racist and prejudiced nation? What can we as individuals do to stop this racial hate from going on? All of this is happening because we stole the Aboriginal people’s land. If we had

Legal systems and cultures are intertwined in such a way that allows them to influence one another. While most Western countries focus on top-down approaches that result in changing culture and behavior, others have concentrated their efforts to make the law reflect the culture and values of the people. In the past, when common law heavily influenced tribal courts, tribe members worked towards the preservation of traditions. Now in the modern age, tribes are working to conserve the unity of their people by using programs that center on tradition to bring forth a community. One tribe that has adopted such a program enhanced aboriginal’s Cody Kimewon understanding of his identity through a culture as cause, law as effect approach. Had he not