Jensum Bawa Ms. Dhaliwal NBE3UO-J 13 May 2024 Title of Your Report Through the stories, “Indian Horse” by Richard Wagamese and “Borders” by Thomas King, the authors invite us into a world where boundaries, distantly, persist, showcasing the tenacity of indigenous people. The authors make use of narrative elements of setting, conflict, and symbol to highlight the ongoing struggle of indigenous people to maintain their cultural identity in the face of hardship by persevering against societal oppression. Richard Wagamese’s novel “Indian Horse” depicts the battle to maintain their cultural identity and the problems that indigenous people endure via the story of Saul Indian Horse. As a young indigenous kid, Saul is put under enormous pressure as…show more content… When the guard asks, “Canadian or American side?” and she responds with, “Blackfoot side.” (King, 136), she resists the border’s logic and protects her cultural identity. The setting of the border serves as a metaphor for an invisible barrier between people, especially indigenous people. Compared to the residential school, which is incredibly intense in nature, the setting of the border is quite subtle but no less insidious in the ways indigenous identity is policed and eradicated. Despite the differences in location and setting, both novels focus on the fight to maintain one’s cultural identity in the face of societal oppression and difficulties. In Indian Horse and Borders, the setting plays an important role in the investigation of Indigenous identity and experience. According to the piece, "National Indigenous Peoples' Day: The Power of Stories and Storytelling," "Storytelling serves to connect individuals and communities to their place and time as well as each other." This remark resonates strongly with the novels as the authors employ setting to connect the characters to their cultural background and the
