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When adapting a work from page to screen, alterations to the text are necessary. INDIAN HORSE avoids making indigenous stories more palatable for a settler audience. The filmmakers emphasize their high regard for Wagamese’s work in the film’s faithful replication of the novel’s plot, and avoid falling into a long tradition of making indigenous stories more palatable for a settler audience. Two white men brought the story to the screen: writer Dennis Foon, a playwright known for socially conscious children’s plays, and longtime camera operator, but only second-time director Stephen Campanelli. While settler Canadians do need to be allies to indigenous peoples, the film’s indigenous representation remains primarily in front of the camera. ‘I wanted to show that kind of strength that women have’: Kathleen Hepburn on her debut feature Never Steady, Never Still At the film’s premiere, white producers Trish Dolman and Christine Haebler of Screen Siren Pictures (behind films like Hector and the Search for Happiness and Daydream Nation ) described bringing Wagamese’s novel to the screen as an act of allyship necessary for reconciliation. In 2008, the government formed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to collect stories and create a plan for how Canada, at all levels, could address this legacy of cultural genocide. While the last residential schools closed in the 1980s, the Canadian government refused to take responsibility for three decades. Just as Saul is told in rehab he must acknowledge the abuse done to him, title cards at the beginning and end of the film emphasize Canada must likewise acknowledge its violent history. Indian Horse emphasizes that coming to terms with the past is necessary for healing. 'The racism Saul faces every game exposes the lie in Canada’s stated goal of indigenous assimilation.' Click To Tweet Saul continues to succeed on Kelly’s team, even attracting the attention of the National Hockey League’s Toronto Maple Leafs and earning a place on their junior team. This eventually gives him a chance to be adopted by Fred Kelly (Michael Lawrenchuk), who runs a travelling team of indigenous players in a northern Ontario mining town. Saul survives residential school by becoming a hockey prodigy, surpassing players that are bigger and older than him. The only test was our ability to survive.”

As the protagonist, Saul Indian Horse (played by Sladen Peltier at 6 years old/Forrest Goodluck at 15/Ajuawak Kapasheshit at 22) narrates, “They called it a school, but it was never that. At least 6000 children died in the system. Click To TweetĪt these institutions, students faced physical and often sexual abuse, in an attempt to make students forget their language and culture. INDIAN HORSE uses hockey to grapple with Canada’s darkest policy: the Indian residential school system.