Indian Horse Plot and character
outline
● You are to create an outline for the novel as reference for yourself
● Use each chapter number as a title
● Under each number give the following information
○ Saul’s Age
○ Location
○ 2-3 Major plot events
○ Any major character development
● Themes
○ Intergenerational Trauma as a result of Residential Schools: Trauma
caused within the Family that is passed down from one generation to
another.
○ The Beauty and Resilience of Nature and the Interconnectedness of all
living “Beings”. Spiritual Connectivity to Nature in the Indigenous Culture.
○ Loss: Loss of Family, Loss of Identity, Loss of Innocence, Loss of Self.
○ Discrimination of Indigenous Culture and People.
○ Effect of Betrayal and Trauma on the individual.
○ Class of Cultures, Beliefs, Values, and Religion between Indigenous and
Europeans.
○ Resilience: What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
○ Importance of awareness and eventual acceptance of: “the truth” in order
for healing to occur (Reconciliation).
○ Alcohol as a coping mechanism and as a negative agent simultaneously.
○ The importance of Hope to keep our spirit alive especially during and
after a traumatic event.
,1st Part
Chapter 1: 1-3
Notes
● Saul’s Age
○ Thirties 30s
● Location
○ The New Dawn Centre - the alcohol treatment facility
○ Time is in or after 1983 (Since he’s born in 1953)
● 2-3 Major Plot Events
○ Saul was sent to the New Dawn Centre, a treatment facility run by Fish
Clan members and counsellors, to share his story. “Many hearts beating
together makes us stronger (Wagamese 2).” At least 30 patients are
staying in the facility with Saul, “from kids in their late teens to a few in
their thirties, like me, and one woman who’s so old she can’t talk much
anymore (Wagamese 2).”
○ “If we want to live at peace with ourselves, we need to tell our stories
(Wagamese 3).”
○ Saul is unable to tell his story in the circle so he was granted permission
to write things down.
○ He never participated in any rituals or ceremonies meant to bring vision.
“I have been lifted up and out of this physical world into a place where
time and space have a different rhythm. I always remained within the
borders of this world, yet I had the eyes of one born to a different plane
(Wagamese 3).” He is a seer. He was in a thrall of power he never
understood, and that gift left him years ago, which became his greatest
sorrow. “Sometimes it feels as though I have spent my entire life on a trek
to rediscover it (Wagamese 3).”
● Major Character Development
○ Saul, a hardcore drunk, is in an alcohol treatment facility for a month,
after staying 6 weeks in the hospital. That time is the longest he’s been
without a drink in years, which is a great step in assessing his addiction.
In the facility, despite not being able to share his story through speaking,
he starts to write about it.
,Extra Notes
● Characters
○ Saul Indian Horse
■ Parents: Mary Mandamin and John Indian Horse
■ Grandfather: Solomon (Saul is Diminutive of Solomon)
■ Born in 1953
○ Aki
■ Mother the Earth
○ Counsellor Moses
■ Counsellor in the New Dawn Facility that has one-on-one time with
Saul
■ He gave Saul permission to write his story down.
○ Fish Clan Description
■ The Fish Clan of the northern Ojibway, The Anishinabeg
■ Territories along the Winnipeg River, where the river opens wide
before crossing into Manitoba after it leaves Lake of the Woods
and the rugged spine of northern Ontario. (Wagamese 1)
■ “Cheekbones cut from granite ridges that rise above our
homeland. … Our talk rolls and tumbles like the rivers that served
as our roads. Our legends tell of how we emerged from the womb
of our Mother the Earth; Aki (Wagamese 1).”
● Terms
○ Zhaunagush - the white man
● Themes
○ Alcohol as a coping mechanism and as a negative agent simultaneously.
■ “By telling our stories, hardcore drunks like me can set ourselves
free from the bottle and the life that took us there (Wagamese 2).”
○ The Beauty and Resilience of Nature and the Interconnectedness of all
living “Beings”. Spiritual Connectivity to Nature in the Indigenous Culture.
Chapter 2: 4-7
Notes
● Saul’s Age
○ 30s (Saul is talking about past events in present time)
● Location
, ○ Location of the Fish Clan tribe
● 2-3 Major Plot Events
○ Saul’s great-grandfather, Shabogeesick, brought the horse to the Fish
Clan. It was a draught horse, a Percheron. The people in the clan called
him “Kitchi-Animoosh. Great Dog (Wagamese 6).”
○ “The change that comes our way will come in many forms. In sights that
are mysterious to our eyes, in sounds that are grating on our ears, in ways
of thinking that will crash like thunder in our hearts and minds. But we
must learn to ride each one of these horses of change. It is what the
future asks of us and our survival depends on it. That is the spirit teaching
of the Horse (Wagamese 7).”
○ The Zhaunagush called Kitchi-Animoosh the Indian Horse, which became
the family name from that day.
● Major Character Development
○ The Indian Horse family name was developed from the horse,
Kitchi-Animoosh, that Shabogeesick brought home to the Fish Clan. The
community came to love him.
○ Microcosm
○ Macrocosm
Extra Notes
● Characters
○ Shabogeesick (Slanting Sky)
■ Saul’s great-grandfather. A shaman, a trapper. He had the sending
thought, the great gift of the original teachers. One of the last to
claim its energy before history trampled it under foot.
● Terms
○ Manitous - spirits in the belief system of Anishinaabe (Ojibway) and other
Algonquian peoples of North America; a supernatural force
○ Maymaygwayseeuk - the water spirits
○ Waywashkeezhee - deer
○ Kitchi-Animoosh - Great Dog
● Themes
○ The Beauty and Resilience of Nature and the Interconnectedness of all
living “Beings”. Spiritual Connectivity to Nature in the Indigenous Culture.
■ “The People did not know what to make of this talk.
Shabogeesick’s words scared them. But they trusted him and they
outline
● You are to create an outline for the novel as reference for yourself
● Use each chapter number as a title
● Under each number give the following information
○ Saul’s Age
○ Location
○ 2-3 Major plot events
○ Any major character development
● Themes
○ Intergenerational Trauma as a result of Residential Schools: Trauma
caused within the Family that is passed down from one generation to
another.
○ The Beauty and Resilience of Nature and the Interconnectedness of all
living “Beings”. Spiritual Connectivity to Nature in the Indigenous Culture.
○ Loss: Loss of Family, Loss of Identity, Loss of Innocence, Loss of Self.
○ Discrimination of Indigenous Culture and People.
○ Effect of Betrayal and Trauma on the individual.
○ Class of Cultures, Beliefs, Values, and Religion between Indigenous and
Europeans.
○ Resilience: What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
○ Importance of awareness and eventual acceptance of: “the truth” in order
for healing to occur (Reconciliation).
○ Alcohol as a coping mechanism and as a negative agent simultaneously.
○ The importance of Hope to keep our spirit alive especially during and
after a traumatic event.
,1st Part
Chapter 1: 1-3
Notes
● Saul’s Age
○ Thirties 30s
● Location
○ The New Dawn Centre - the alcohol treatment facility
○ Time is in or after 1983 (Since he’s born in 1953)
● 2-3 Major Plot Events
○ Saul was sent to the New Dawn Centre, a treatment facility run by Fish
Clan members and counsellors, to share his story. “Many hearts beating
together makes us stronger (Wagamese 2).” At least 30 patients are
staying in the facility with Saul, “from kids in their late teens to a few in
their thirties, like me, and one woman who’s so old she can’t talk much
anymore (Wagamese 2).”
○ “If we want to live at peace with ourselves, we need to tell our stories
(Wagamese 3).”
○ Saul is unable to tell his story in the circle so he was granted permission
to write things down.
○ He never participated in any rituals or ceremonies meant to bring vision.
“I have been lifted up and out of this physical world into a place where
time and space have a different rhythm. I always remained within the
borders of this world, yet I had the eyes of one born to a different plane
(Wagamese 3).” He is a seer. He was in a thrall of power he never
understood, and that gift left him years ago, which became his greatest
sorrow. “Sometimes it feels as though I have spent my entire life on a trek
to rediscover it (Wagamese 3).”
● Major Character Development
○ Saul, a hardcore drunk, is in an alcohol treatment facility for a month,
after staying 6 weeks in the hospital. That time is the longest he’s been
without a drink in years, which is a great step in assessing his addiction.
In the facility, despite not being able to share his story through speaking,
he starts to write about it.
,Extra Notes
● Characters
○ Saul Indian Horse
■ Parents: Mary Mandamin and John Indian Horse
■ Grandfather: Solomon (Saul is Diminutive of Solomon)
■ Born in 1953
○ Aki
■ Mother the Earth
○ Counsellor Moses
■ Counsellor in the New Dawn Facility that has one-on-one time with
Saul
■ He gave Saul permission to write his story down.
○ Fish Clan Description
■ The Fish Clan of the northern Ojibway, The Anishinabeg
■ Territories along the Winnipeg River, where the river opens wide
before crossing into Manitoba after it leaves Lake of the Woods
and the rugged spine of northern Ontario. (Wagamese 1)
■ “Cheekbones cut from granite ridges that rise above our
homeland. … Our talk rolls and tumbles like the rivers that served
as our roads. Our legends tell of how we emerged from the womb
of our Mother the Earth; Aki (Wagamese 1).”
● Terms
○ Zhaunagush - the white man
● Themes
○ Alcohol as a coping mechanism and as a negative agent simultaneously.
■ “By telling our stories, hardcore drunks like me can set ourselves
free from the bottle and the life that took us there (Wagamese 2).”
○ The Beauty and Resilience of Nature and the Interconnectedness of all
living “Beings”. Spiritual Connectivity to Nature in the Indigenous Culture.
Chapter 2: 4-7
Notes
● Saul’s Age
○ 30s (Saul is talking about past events in present time)
● Location
, ○ Location of the Fish Clan tribe
● 2-3 Major Plot Events
○ Saul’s great-grandfather, Shabogeesick, brought the horse to the Fish
Clan. It was a draught horse, a Percheron. The people in the clan called
him “Kitchi-Animoosh. Great Dog (Wagamese 6).”
○ “The change that comes our way will come in many forms. In sights that
are mysterious to our eyes, in sounds that are grating on our ears, in ways
of thinking that will crash like thunder in our hearts and minds. But we
must learn to ride each one of these horses of change. It is what the
future asks of us and our survival depends on it. That is the spirit teaching
of the Horse (Wagamese 7).”
○ The Zhaunagush called Kitchi-Animoosh the Indian Horse, which became
the family name from that day.
● Major Character Development
○ The Indian Horse family name was developed from the horse,
Kitchi-Animoosh, that Shabogeesick brought home to the Fish Clan. The
community came to love him.
○ Microcosm
○ Macrocosm
Extra Notes
● Characters
○ Shabogeesick (Slanting Sky)
■ Saul’s great-grandfather. A shaman, a trapper. He had the sending
thought, the great gift of the original teachers. One of the last to
claim its energy before history trampled it under foot.
● Terms
○ Manitous - spirits in the belief system of Anishinaabe (Ojibway) and other
Algonquian peoples of North America; a supernatural force
○ Maymaygwayseeuk - the water spirits
○ Waywashkeezhee - deer
○ Kitchi-Animoosh - Great Dog
● Themes
○ The Beauty and Resilience of Nature and the Interconnectedness of all
living “Beings”. Spiritual Connectivity to Nature in the Indigenous Culture.
■ “The People did not know what to make of this talk.
Shabogeesick’s words scared them. But they trusted him and they
