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Grandparents play a key role in teaching a child about the history of the family and its culture. In Richard Wagamese’s novel Indian Horse, the importance of family is shown through Saul’s grandmother Naomi and the impact
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They were left to fend for themselves against the harsh climate and rough terrain. Because of Naomi’s great wisdom and knowledge, they managed to survive even when they were faced with great adversity. Naomi played such a large impact in determining Saul’s survival because wherever they went, she would put his needs above her own and do what ever was possible for him to survive, even if it meant that she would not. When the climate was cold, she put his hands up her skirt and in between her thighs to warm them (Wagamese 37). She tore branches down off of cedar trees and piled them on the deep snow so that he could lie down (Wagamese 39), she even sheltered him against her body and protected him from the harsh cold, so much that she eventually ended up freezing to death (Wagamese 42). Naomi put her life on the line for Saul when his parents abandoned him and because she did not want him to be taken to a residential school and be traumatized. Her goal was for him to survive but also for him not to be assimilated. She wanted him to keep his culture and aboriginal traditions because since his parents had already been converted to christianity, he was the last one left who could. She attempted to ensure that Saul never had to attend a residential school due to its “poorly built” structure and because it is also very “unsanitary” (Woods 174). Author Eric Taylor Woods writes that the Indian residential schools and an “appalling” experience for the native children. The vast majority of the students suffered from “malnourishment, inadequate clothing, insufficient medical care” and “death from disease was not uncommon” (Woods 174). Children were also subject to “psychological, physical, and sexual abuse” (Woods 174). It was in Naomi’s best interest that Saul would be free from experiencing such horrors, but it wasn't until her death that he was finally
They were left to fend for themselves against the harsh climate and rough terrain. Because of Naomi’s great wisdom and knowledge, they managed to survive even when they were faced with great adversity. Naomi played such a large impact in determining Saul’s survival because wherever they went, she would put his needs above her own and do what ever was possible for him to survive, even if it meant that she would not. When the climate was cold, she put his hands up her skirt and in between her thighs to warm them (Wagamese 37). She tore branches down off of cedar trees and piled them on the deep snow so that he could lie down (Wagamese 39), she even sheltered him against her body and protected him from the harsh cold, so much that she eventually ended up freezing to death (Wagamese 42). Naomi put her life on the line for Saul when his parents abandoned him and because she did not want him to be taken to a residential school and be traumatized. Her goal was for him to survive but also for him not to be assimilated. She wanted him to keep his culture and aboriginal traditions because since his parents had already been converted to christianity, he was the last one left who could. She attempted to ensure that Saul never had to attend a residential school due to its “poorly built” structure and because it is also very “unsanitary” (Woods 174). Author Eric Taylor Woods writes that the Indian residential schools and an “appalling” experience for the native children. The vast majority of the students suffered from “malnourishment, inadequate clothing, insufficient medical care” and “death from disease was not uncommon” (Woods 174). Children were also subject to “psychological, physical, and sexual abuse” (Woods 174). It was in Naomi’s best interest that Saul would be free from experiencing such horrors, but it wasn't until her death that he was finally