Indian Horse

Use these links to supplement and complement students’ reading of the work and to increase their overall enjoyment of literature. Challenge them to discern parallel themes, engage through visual and aural stimuli, and delve deeper into the thematic possibilities presented by the title.

Recommended Texts for Pairing

Medicine Walk

• 2014 novel by author Richard Wagamese
• shares Indian Horse’s themes of Pride and Tension between Old and New Ways
• Medicine Walk on SuperSummary

Embers: One Ojibway's Meditations

• 2016 nonfiction reflection by author Richard Wagamese
• shares Indian Horse’s theme of Communication versus Silence

The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America

• 2012 nonfiction account by Thomas King
• shares topics with Indian Horse, such as racism and Indigenous-white conflicts
• The Inconvenient Indian on SuperSummary

Other Student Resources

Richard Wagamese’s presentation on Indian Horse

• a 2013 presentation at the University of British Columbia

Indian Horse trailer

• promotes the 2017 film adaptation of the novel

Teacher Resources

Canada's Dark Secret

• a 2017 documentary from al-Jazeera on Canada’s residential schools, including interviews (content warning: material related to sexual assault)

“Inside a New Effort to Change What Schools Teach About Native American History”

• a 2019 article from Smithsonian Magazine about the importance of learning Indigenous American history within the U.S.

“Native American Mothers Ask: 'What Do I Tell My Daughter When She Is Raped?’”

• a 2016 article by The Guardian on teaching about sexual assault within the Indigenous American community