Case Study: Saul Indian Horse

Saul's Experience at the Residential School

AttentionL This case study may trigger your emotions. Please book an appointment with one of the counselors at our Learner Success Services if you need any support. The author of the case study, Crystal Manyfingers, Learning Design /Curriculum Indigenization/Decolonization Specialist at Bow Valley College, will also be happy to provide additional support.

Saul Indian Horse is a husband and father from the Stoney Nakoda First Nation in Southern Alberta. At the age of five years, Saul was taken away from his parents’ home and forced to attend the Dunbow Industrial/Residential School east of the town of High River. The children who arrived at the residential school were called ‘heathens’ and ‘savages’ by the residential school caregivers. From the time Saul first arrived at the Residential School, he felt waves of vulnerability as he was surrounded by strangers, not to mention loneliness for his parents and brothers and sisters. He was often punished with physical abuse if he spoke his own Stoney Nakoda language to the other children. He often went to bed suffering from cuts and bruises and often with an empty stomach. At first the only thing Saul could do to ask for food was to point to his own mouth and beg for food.

After spending many months with Casey, Saul had the courage to return to the site of Dunbow and met with one of the residential school caregivers who lived nearby. The caregiver had tears all over his face, reaching out to Saul and asking for his forgiveness. Remembering the traditional teachings of the elders, Saul accepted the caregiver’s apology calmly without feelings of anger.

When Saul turned 50, his wife threw him a big celebration and publicly acknowledged Saul as a loving and hardworking husband and father. Saul threw his arms around his wife and three children at the party and said “H?? tecí?ina no!” [Yes, I love you!] in Nakoda language with a smile. Saul announced that he had been accepted by Bow Valley College’s Addiction Studies program and would be on his way of becoming a support worker at the Elbow River Healing Lodge.

1. When Saul tried to share his experience at the residential school, he felt that a part of him died again. Imagine that you are Casey Eagle Speaker and write a dialogue between Casey and Saul (as in, write what you as Casey and Saul could say and do) incorporating listening, responding, and non-verbal communication skills.

2. When Saul meets with the former caregiver from the Dunbow residential school, the caregiver asks forgiveness. Imagine that you are the former caregiver. What would you say to Saul by way of apology? You do not need to reference information from outside the case study and textbook. Include what you have learned about how to apologize.

3. Discuss conflict and power as illustrated in this scenario. Determine the sources of power in the conflict and how they are being used by each person.