Richard Wagamese's Keeper N Me

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 detrimental and unfair categorization of people by race, gender and more, commonly known as discrimination, affects many in society both mentally and emotionally. Many instances of this act of hatred occurred among Aboriginal and Native Canadians in the 20th century. However, for a little Native Indian boy stepping onto the rink, this is the norm that surrounds him. Saul Indian Horse, in Richard Wagamese’s “Indian Horse”, faces discrimination head on, where his strengths for hockey are limited by the racial discrimination from the surrounding white ethnicity. Consequently, this racism draws him into a mentally unstable state, where he suffers heavy consequences.

The voices of Indigenous children are unheard and purposely ignored. This is portrayed through the literature of Birdie by Tracey Lindberg and Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese. Despite both apologies from Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau, the government system to protect First Nations children appears to have detrimental effects on the life of a child. This is proven by young children turning to drugs in order to satisfy their growing pain, family members who abuse their children because they consume high amounts of alcohol, which has a negative impact on the child, and discriminatory behaviour by surrounding communities. To begin with, young children turning to drugs in order to satisfy their growing pain.

You tell me, and I won’t put it down on the form, No-one will know but you and me”. It’s obvious that the author, Thomas King, is trying to make awareness about the treatment of Aboriginals are facing in

People often cannot feel confident in who they are unless they know their past. In the novel Keeper’ N Me Richard Wagamese develops Garnet Raven as a young indigenous man taken away from him his family as a child, which in turn causes him to struggle through life feeling uncertain of who he is and longing for a sense of belonging. Initially, Garnet tries to conceal his true identity as an “Indiyun” because his people have been portrayed as alcoholics and unproductive people throughout his life. Due to this concealment he feels a part of him is missing inside and is determined to fit in somewhere. It is not until Garnet receives a letter in prison from his brother Stanley that he realises in order to fill this lonely pit inside him that

Tracey Lindberg’s novel Birdie is narratively constructed in a contorting and poetic manner yet illustrates the seriousness of violence experience by Indigenous females. The novel is about a young Cree woman Bernice Meetoos (Birdie) recalling her devasting past and visionary journey to places she has lived and the search for home and family. Lindberg captures Bernice’s internal therapeutic journey to recover from childhood traumas of incest, sexual abuse, and social dysfunctions. She also presents Bernice’s self-determination to achieve a standard of good health and well-being. The narrative presents Bernice for the most part lying in bed and reflecting on her dark life in the form of dreams.

Initial Assessment Garnet from the novel Keeper N’ Me seems like a rather resourceful individual that has relied mainly on himself to navigate through life ever since he aged out of the foster care system. The way in which he chose to survive during this time may have been influenced by the pervasively negative stereotypes against Indigenous people, his detachment from his community, family, and heritage, as well as the observed desire to fit in or belong. Garnet’s primary presenting clinical issues seem to be a diminished sense of self and self-esteem. This may be due to growing up in all-white households and schools with no formal education about his family history/heritage or of Indigenous teachings in general. The knowledge that he was able to gather from within these

“You know, I hearda this guy runnin’ around tryin’ to tell folks he be Hawaiian. A man can’t be his own person if the man don’t know himself. Right, Mama?” (pg. 31) “Keeper’n Me” by Richard Wagamese is a story about finding one’s identity, the balance required in life, the importance of finding your own history and reconnecting with lost friends and family. Garnet Raven did not have an easy life growing up, being moved from foster home to foster home for most of his childhood and being separated from his siblings.

The indigenous people are literally crashing into the buildings produced by the colonizing culture, “Look out! Bob shouts. There are Indians flying into the skyscrapers and falling on the sidewalk.” (King 63) and it adequately represents the lack of adaptability of the Native Canadians. Thomas King taps again into the effects of colonialism and notions the indigenous people as uneducated and an untamed species.

The voices of Indigenous children are unheard and purposely ignored. This is portrayed through the literature of Birdie by Tracey Lindberg and Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese. Despite receiving apologies from Prime Ministers Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau, the government system to protect First Nations families appears to have detrimental effects on the native children. This is proven by young children turning to drugs in order to satisfy their growing pain, by family members who abuse their kids because of alcohol addictions, and the increasing discriminatory behaviour by surrounding communities. To begin with, young children are turning to drugs in order to satisfy their growing pain.

The word “home” is mentioned 138 times throughout Keeper N’ Me. It discusses foster homes, homelessness, Garnet’s many homes, other people’s homes and the home Garnet never thought he would find. There is a difference between a home and a house. The difference isn’t always clear to find, unlike the phrase “home is where the heart is” finding your home can be quite difficult if you don’t know where your heart lies. When Garnet joins Lonnie and his family you could say that his heart laid with them but eventually we learn that their home was not where he belonged no matter how invested his heart was in their family.

Children were reared by the “mother clan” it took the whole family to raise a child from husbands, brothers, and extended family leaving little room for family violence (Martin-Hill, 2012, p. 110). Canada’s Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples referred to the voices of Aboriginal women pre-colonization: Women played a prominent part in the political and cultural life of many traditional Aboriginal societies. First and foremost, they were honoured as the givers of life. Their ability to bear, raise and nurture the new generation was seen as a special gift from the Creator, a source of awesome power and equal

Throughout history, there have been many literary studies that focused on the culture and traditions of Native Americans. Native writers have worked painstakingly on tribal histories, and their works have made us realize that we have not learned the full story of the Native American tribes. Deborah Miranda has written a collective tribal memoir, “Bad Indians”, drawing on ancestral memory that revealed aspects of an indigenous worldview and contributed to update our understanding of the mission system, settler colonialism and histories of American Indians about how they underwent cruel violence and exploitation. Her memoir successfully addressed past grievances of colonialism and also recognized and honored indigenous knowledge and identity.

Critical Summary #3: First Nations Perspectives 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).

For Cheryl, she embraces her Metis culture and heritage. “‘I wish we were whole Indians’” (40). Throughout her time at school, Cheryl reads history books about Metis people and historical figures such as Louis Riel. She would also passionately write on what she thinks about the Metis people. At university, she writes a piece which points about the crucial effects white people have brought along in North America.