Indian Horse

Saul is taken to St. Jerome’s Indian Residential School, which he says “took all the light from [his] world” (43). It smells of bleach and is a “sickly” green. He and the other new students are bathed, deloused, and have their heads shaved. Saul is allowed to keep his name, as it is biblical, while another boy named Lonnie is forced to change his name to Aaron. When he argues that he’s named after his father, Sister Ignacia says, “‘Your father is the Heavenly Father…Your human father has nothing to offer you anymore’” (45). When Lonnie threatens to run, Sister Ignacia brings out a leather paddle and strikes him until he collapses, saying: “‘Obedience is the measure of our worthiness’” (46) and “‘At St. Jerome’s we work to remove the Indian from our children’” (46-47).

At “St. Germ’s,” Saul is known as “Zhaunagush” by the other children because he can read and speak English. This leads him to isolate himself and retreat into books. Meanwhile, other children suffer horrible fates at the hands of the nuns. Arden Little Light, who constantly has a runny nose and is punished by having his hands tied behind his back so that he won’t wipe his nose on his sleeve, hangs himself in despair.