The Handmaid's Tale, Indian Horse and the Workshop

Common themes in the movie Indian Horse and in the workshop are those of the residential schools and of roles within the community. The workshop had me play the role of a child. I was sent to the other side of the stage along with the other children. The film shows young Saul being taken by white men to a residential school. He grows up there and only leaves when a man recruits him for his hockey team. As children in the workshop, we eventually returned to the community as adults. Additionally, in the beginning of Indian Horse, we witness the traditional role of elders as Saul’s grandmother brings her family to an ancestral land where they would be protected from the white men. She watches over them and keeps them safe. As part of the workshop, we were placed in a circle and given roles such as elder, man, woman, and child... During this exercise, we learned about our respective roles in the community, such as those of the elder: to heal, to protect, to share knowledge through speech, to teach the community.

Freedom of speech and freedom of choice are key themes in both Indian Horse and The Handmaid's Tale. The kids in the movie are prohibited from speaking their native tongues. Upon arrival, one of the boys is beaten for not knowing English. The women in my novel are also capable of reading and writing, but they are prohibited from doing so. Offred has a rebellious moment as she meets the Commander at night to play scrabble and read magazines. A similar offense in Gilead could result in her hand being cut off. Furthermore, the children have no freedom of choice in Indian Horse. Their hair is cut off as soon as they arrive, and they are given westernized uniforms. They are punished for hanging around with their siblings and forced to eat foods they dislike. There is a moment in the movie where a little girl refuses to let go of her big sister and is enclosed downstairs in a little cage with very little food as punishment. In the novel, the women have no decisional power over their own lives. Offred is given duties such as shopping and reproduction. She must behave or she will face punishment. Women who disobey or fail to fulfill their duty are sent to labor camps so harsh they ultimately die within a few years.


In regards to the workshop, I thought it was a good idea to distribute roles and make people a part of a larger community. Unfortunately, I think the workshop was not delivered as well as it could have been. I looked forward to hearing personal perspectives and experiences but was disappointed to learn there would be none at the workshop. As she shared her experience and demonstrated the way hoops are used, I was much more compelled. Although I had high expectations, I felt the workshop was improvised. After being sent across the stage, we had to deduce that we had been sent to a residential school. Being so far from everyone else, it was hard to fully comprehend what was going on with the rest of the community. An explanation would have been more interesting if we had been told why we were sent away, and what we experienced in the residential schools. Consequently, we grew bored standing in the corner. The workshop should have gone deeper into intergenerational trauma. In my observation of other students, it appeared to be difficult for many of them to dig into how they felt since there was no context provided for every event. Then, when students were asked to share their feelings, they did so superficially as if to fill the silence in the room, as if to say what they thought the animators wanted to hear.

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