Difference in Mediums: Indian Horse

In 2012, Richard Wagamese, an Ojibwe Canadian author/journalist, released a novel titled Indian Horse. Indian Horse won multiple awards in the few years after its release and, in 2017 after Wagamese’s passing, the novel was adapted into a film. Although both stories are told in different mediums, both are quite similar but have their differences.  

Both stories begin with Saul as an adult sitting in a help group, narrating the story from his perspective. Keeping the introduction between the novel and film similar was a great idea because it keeps the narrative that this story is a coping mechanism for the character as he mentally goes through and experiences his childhood and life.  

The novel begins with Saul’s backstory. It speaks about who his family is and their backstory, where he was born, and that his brother was taken to the Residential Schools. The movie mentions some of this, but it is hard to notice if you haven’t read the book. It begins with close ups of a horse, referring to Saul’s family backstory, and it shows brief flashbacks of him and his grandmother in the bushes the day Saul’s brother was taken.  

After Saul’s backstory is hinted at, the movie begins the story when Saul and his whole family are on a river to God's Lake where they should be safe. In the novel, this happens in chapter six, after more detail about Saul’s backstory, and the journey to God’s Lake was given. Unfortunately, Saul’s brother passes away from sickness not long after the family arrives at God’s Lake. Following his mother and father leaving for town, Saul’s grandmother decides to change course with Saul, and they head towards her brother’s son’s house. But they never make it, as his grandmother freezes to death and Saul is found and taken to St. Jerome’s Residential School in White River, Ontario. 

Once Saul was captured and brought to a Residential School, several chapters of the novel go in depth on the living conditions, language struggles, Saul’s building relationship with Father Leboutilier, and we learn about Rebecca, and how her death helped the students communicate. In the movie, there is not much talk about the living conditions, though there are many scenes that include it. In the found novel, we meet Rebecca through a flashback well after Saul has left the school, but in the movie, we meet her not long after Saul arrives. 

After Saul’s backstory is hinted at, the movie begins the story when Saul and his whole family are on a river to God's Lake where they should be safe. In the novel, this happens in chapter six, after more detail about Saul’s backstory, and the journey to God’s Lake was given. Unfortunately, Saul’s brother passes away from sickness not long after the family arrives at God’s Lake. Following his mother and father leaving for town, Saul’s grandmother decides to change course with Saul, and they head towards her brother’s son’s house. But they never make it, as his grandmother freezes to death and Saul is found and taken to St. Jerome’s Residential School in White River, Ontario. 

Once Saul was captured and brought to a Residential School, several chapters of the novel go in depth on the living conditions, language struggles, Saul’s building relationship with Father Leboutilier, and we learn about Rebecca, and how her death helped the students communicate. In the movie, there is not much talk about the living conditions, though there are many scenes that include it. In the found novel, we meet Rebecca through a flashback well after Saul has left the school, but in the movie, we meet her not long after Saul arrives. 

The rest of Saul’s time in the school is the same. Some events in the movie happen in a different order to the novel. Saul is introduced to hockey, and his journey to getting better and becoming more immersed with the help of Father Leboutilier still happens. We see him training, watching Hockey Night in Canada, and the interaction that helps Saul leave the school. The major difference in events is that the movie doesn’t have Saul getting rejected from a big team because he’s Indigenous. It skips past Saul playing his first games with the Moose and instead it goes to them playing against their first white team, and it doesn’t take long until he’s recruited for a feeder team to the Toronto Maple Leafs.  

In the novel, Saul has a conversation with some of his teammates about his worries with the feeder team, and his progression through the hockey ranks happens very slowly. In the movie things happen fast. Both versions still have Saul struggling to play without body checking and fitting in amongst the white players.  

After Saul quits the feeder team, both have him working jobs, getting drunk, and on the move. Then they circle back to the help centre from the start of the story, where Saul struggles to tell his story. Both continue with Saul going to all the places from his childhood; he goes to the rundown school, remembers hockey, where he split up from his parents, and how poorly Father Leboutilier treated him behind the scenes. In the movie, the story ends when Saul returns to Manitouwadge where he played for the Moose. In the novel, the story ends when Saul’s first game since he quit the feeder team begins. Overall, the novel and film are remarkably similar even though some events are told in different orders.  

I believe that Indian Horse the film was created and told in great memory for Richard Wagamese, the writer of Indian Horse the novel.