As the book begins, Saul states that when he was born, people still talked in the old way, but that his generation crossed a border. The horse’s teaching told by his great-grandfather, Shabogeesick, emphasizes this tension. The teaching says that a change will come and scorch their lives, and they must learn to ride the horses of change.

Saul’s experience of this tension is played out in his own family. His grandmother, Naomi, strives to keep Saul away from the white man and the school, telling him legends and singing Ojibway songs. His parents, however, call Naomi’s ceremonies blasphemy, and even blame her insistence on returning to Gods Lake for Benjamin’s death. Saul’s mother outright says, “Those gods are dead” (32) after Benjamin dies.

Saul, however, experiences the old ways personally through his visions. He sees his ancestors in the land, and is comforted by snatches of the Old Talk. At St. Jerome’s, they are forbidden from speaking Ojibway, and Saul’s familiarity with English makes him an outcast. The other children call him “Zhaunagush,” though he feels no connection to the Christian religion that the priests and nuns try to force upon him.