Saul was just a young boy when he was taken and put into residential school. The school had shattered his human spirit and made him feel worthless. The beatings and sexual abuse Saul had gone through and witnessed caused him to lose part of himself. Residential schools had a goal of " killing the Indian in the child." The beginning of Sauls time in residential had a tremendous impact in changing who he was by the loss of his identity, individually, and innocence.
When Saul first arrives at the school he describes it as being dark, cold, and contained an unpleasant smell. Saul is taken inside the school to be stripped and cleaned excessively by the Nuns. Saul states " It felt like they were trying to remove more than just grime or odor. It felt as though they were trying to remove our skin". The nuns shaved Saul's …show more content…
Practicing any part of the Ojibway culture would result in the children getting sever punishment. Saul had to learn how to avoid punishment by picking up on tricks to survive. The school would treat childish problems severely wrong. For instance, a six-year-old boy had a runny nose and would use his sleeve to wipe the snot. Watkins 2
The nuns tried to break this habit by beating him in front of everyone when he would use his sleeve, when that didn't work they tied his hands behind his back causing it to run down him. One day the nuns found him hanging in a barn and brought him to the Indian yard. " Row on row of unmarked graves." This had caused Saul to lose his childhood, his innocence, by living in fear of the unknown and how unpredictable the school had become. Worrying about when he's going to get beaten or abused next, watching his every move, causing damages to him