Racism in Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese Essay Sample

Indian Horse by Wagamese illustrates that racism is detrimental to one's sense of identity.

In modern society, there is a divide between people based on the colour of their skin. Some individuals are not given the same opportunities based on their physical appearance. Richard Wagamese’s Indian Horse illustrates that racism is detrimental to one’s sense of identity. The three reasons racism is detrimental to one's sense of identity are seen through low self-esteem, unhealthy coping strategies and cultural genocide. 

The first reason, racism is detrimental to one’s sense of identity is seen when Saul has kicked off a team for being Indigenous. Saul then thinks he is at fault resulting in a lower self-esteem example in Indian Horse it states that “ I know but there is no time for you. They don’t want you to play anymore, Saul … Do they hate me? … They think it’s their game”(Wagamese 91-92). This quote is significant to my thesis because it shows that Saul is hurt that he cannot play hockey being himself and is forced into the false belief that he is inferior to white Canadians that are good at hockey. The society around Saul is a racist society that cannot see Saul for anything but an inferior hockey player that is Indian.

The second reason racism causes low-esteem is seen when Saul and his teammates visit a cafe and all his teammates except for Saul are beaten for being indigenous before they could eat. For example in chapter 31 of Indian horse, states that “ They hate us because we won? I asked finally. They hate us because we're skins. We didn’t do anything. We crossed a line. Their line. They figure they got the right to make us pay for that. Do they? I don’t know, he said. Sometimes I think so”( Wagamese 136). This quote is a conversation between Virgil and Saul after everyone on Sauls's team except for Saul is beaten and pissed on by a group of white men. The quote shows how Virgil has been traumatized by the experience, Virgil has the belief that maybe they deserve being beaten because they are Indigenous. This is significant because it shows how racism has lowered the self-esteem of Saul's teammates, for them to believe it is their fault that there are racist people and deserve to be beaten. After all, all, they are inferior based on the racist society that they live in The The second cond point is why racism causes unhealthy coping strategies can be seen when Saul quits hockey and starts drinking alcohol to deal with the pain he endured from racism. For example in Indian Horse Saul says, “A part of me missed the banter of the bench and the dressing room, though, the brash glitter talk and the teasing … When I could find work I was mostly a high functioning drunk”(Wagamese 180-181). This quote shows the impact of causes racism on Saul's sense of identity and he is using alcohol to deal with his past experiences of racism. Saul has become very used to the racism while playing hockey that when he quits hockey he misses the racist comments. This symbolizes how the society around Saul have made racism almost feel normal and the victims of racism are tired of fighting back that they rather give in to the ideals of the racist Canadians

Another reason racism is detrimental to one's self-identity is shown through unhealthy coping strategies that Sau uses to deal with his pain and suffering. For example, Saul says, “I was taunted endlessly… Elbows and knees were constantly flying at me … They all looked at me and made faces. I flipped my right glove off at the last second and drove my fist right into his face”(Wagamese 164-165). Saul has become a more aggressive hockey player because has been receiving a lot of racist comments from the crowd, both his teammates and his opposition are racist towards him. This causes Saul to become a violet person that is called the “Rampaging Redskin”. Before Saul joined the team he did not believe in violence but due to the racism he became distant from his teammates when playing hockey and is always looking for fights from his opposition.

The final reason racism negatively affects one's sense of identity is shown through cultural genocide. For example, chapter 11, states that “But Lonnie is my dad’s name, the bot said… Well, the Lord God is your father now and he wants you called Aaron… Your human father has nothing to offer anymore … He is unbaptized and impure of spirit”( Wagamese 45-46). This quote support how racism through cultural genocide destroys the identity of Indigenous people by teaching children that their identity is bad using Christianity to defend their ill intentions Ultimately resulting in Indigenous people taking up a false identity that is acceptable to racist white Canadians.

The third argument that racism leads to identity loss can be seen when the theme of cultural genocide is explored in the book Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese. For example in chapter 12, Saul says “At St.Germ’s the kids called me ‘Zhaunagushi’ because I could speak and read English … There was no tolerance for Indian talk … White fox had his mouth washed out with lye soap for speaking Ojibway. He choked on it and died right there in the classroom” (Wagamese 48), The quote proves that racism causes fear of being one’s self and taking on a false identity. Saul can speak English but most of his classmates cannot. The school does not tolerate students speaking their language, so the teacher makes an example of a boy called a boy “White fox speaking his language and the boy ends up dead in the classroom this instills fear of students speaking their language which is part of their identity.