Indian Horse (2017) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Saul was taken to St. Jerome's after his grandmother Naomi died during a winter journey. Their canoe overturned while attempting to reach Minaki, supplies ran out, and Naomi died. Saul was found by authorities and placed in the residential school, which was the same institution that had previously taken his siblings.

Foreshadowing: The family had been hiding in the wilderness since 1961 to avoid having their children taken to residential schools.

• st jerome's
• residential school
• saul
• naomi
• white river
• taken by authorities

Benjamin was Saul's older brother who escaped from a residential school and returned to warn the family about authorities approaching. The family then relocated to Gods Lake. However, Benjamin soon died of tuberculosis, and his parents took his body and never returned, leaving Saul and his grandmother Naomi alone in the wilderness.

Foreshadowing: Benjamin's return signals the growing threat of the residential school system catching up with the family.

• benjamin
• tuberculosis
• parents left
• gods lake
• saul's brother

The men beat and urinated on all the Moose players except Saul because they spared him due to his age and exceptional hockey skill. Despite being Indigenous themselves, the attackers recognized Saul's talent and chose not to harm him, though this only deepened Saul's isolation from his teammates.

Foreshadowing: Saul's skill had already set him apart throughout his career, sometimes protecting him while also alienating him from his peers.

• chapleau
• moose team
• racism
• attack
• saul spared
• hockey

Saul left the Toronto Marlboros after enduring relentless discrimination that triggered violent outbursts in him. He was benched indefinitely due to his reactions to the racism he faced at the professional level. Unable to cope with the discrimination, he ultimately left the team.

Foreshadowing: Earlier in the film, Saul was kicked off the White River midget team because of his ethnicity, foreshadowing the discrimination he would face in higher levels of hockey.

• toronto marlboros
• discrimination
• racism
• left team
• violent outbursts

In 1986, when Saul returned to the abandoned St. Jerome's, he finally acknowledged that Father Leboutilier had routinely molested and raped him throughout his time at the school. Saul had used hockey as a means of escapism to cope with this abuse, and only by confronting this trauma could he begin to heal.

Foreshadowing: Father Leboutilier was the only adult at St. Jerome's who showed Saul kindness and gave him opportunities, which was a grooming tactic to gain the children's trust.

• father leboutilier
• abuse
• molestation
• saul
• st jerome's
• trauma
• hockey escape

Saul became an alcoholic after leaving the Moose team and drifting across Canada. His aggression from unresolved trauma made him unwelcome in Manitouwadge, and he turned to alcohol to numb the pain of his childhood abuse, the loss of his family, and the discrimination he faced throughout his life.

Foreshadowing: The film shows Saul becoming increasingly aggressive after returning from Toronto, alienating his teammates and signaling his deteriorating mental state.

• alcoholic
• alcoholism
• saul
• trauma
• hobo
• drifting
• manitouwadge

The tape ball represents a full-circle moment for Saul. At St. Jerome's, he used trash and a ball of tape as a makeshift puck to practice hockey in secret. Finding the tape ball on the rink in Manitouwadge reconnects Saul with his purest love of the game, before trauma and professionalism corrupted his relationship with hockey.

Foreshadowing: Saul's earliest hockey practice at St. Jerome's involved using scraps as equipment while cleaning the rink, showing his raw talent and determination.

• tape ball
• hockey
• practice
• saul
• manitouwadge
• full circle
• st jerome's

Hockey was Saul's only escape from the brutal reality of residential school life. Father Leboutilier used the sport as a tool to gain Saul's trust, but hockey also gave Saul a sense of purpose, identity, and temporary refuge from the abuse he suffered. It was the one thing that was truly his.

Foreshadowing: Saul begged to join the hockey team despite his young age and was willing to clean the rink just to be near the game, showing how desperately he needed this escape.

• hockey
• saul
• escape
• st jerome's
• identity
• purpose
• residential school

Saul returned to St. Jerome's in 1986 to confront the trauma he had experienced there. The now-closed school held the memories of abuse he had buried for decades. By visiting the abandoned building and breaking down in the hockey rink, he finally acknowledged what Father Leboutilier had done to him.

Foreshadowing: Saul had carried this secret trauma throughout his entire adult life, affecting his relationships, his career, and his mental health.

• st jerome's
• 1986
• saul
• trauma
• visit
• abandoned
• hockey rink

At Gods Lake, Saul had a vision of speaking with his great-grandfather Shabogeesick, the first Indian Horse. This spiritual experience represented Saul's reconnection with his Indigenous ancestry and heritage, which had been severed by years of trauma, residential school abuse, and assimilation.

Foreshadowing: Earlier in the film, the family had relocated to Gods Lake to reconnect with their ancestors' lands, establishing its spiritual significance.

• gods lake
• spiritual experience
• shabogeesick
• great-grandfather
• indian horse
• ancestry
• vision

Saul was invited to play for White River's midget hockey team due to his exceptional skill, but was soon kicked out solely because of his Ojibway ethnicity. This was one of the first major instances of systemic racism Saul faced in his hockey career, despite his obvious talent.

Foreshadowing: This early discrimination foreshadows the escalating racism Saul will encounter throughout his professional journey.

• white river
• midget team
• kicked out
• ethnicity
• racism
• ojibway

Fred Kelly, an Ojibway man and residential school survivor, invited Saul to leave St. Jerome's and live with his family so Saul could play for the Manitouwadge Moose junior hockey team. Fred saw Saul's talent and wanted to give him a chance at a better life outside the school system.

Foreshadowing: Fred and his wife Martha both survived residential schools, making them understand the trauma Saul had endured.

• fred kelly
• manitouwadge
• moose
• invitation
• family
• hockey
• ojibway