This course has many connections to previous Canadian history courses I have taken. In particular, I took a history course in the fall semester called Canada in the Cold War 3120. In this course, the reading material included the novel “Indian Horse” by Richard Wagamese. This book talks about an Indigenous boy named Saul. Saul was forced to attend residential school and while attending school fell in love with the game of hockey. The book is beautifully written and describes what Saul and other children had to go through during their childhood at residential school. It has twists and turns and it shows how the impacts of the residential school had a large impact on his life and moving forward.

This book is what led me to what to learn more about residential school and inspired me to choose to write my research paper on it. It is an intense and heartbreaking story that teaches individuals about the realities of residential school and what Indigenous people had to endure.