Juxtaposing art and personality development through the convergence of first nations: A reading of Drew Hayden Taylor's Girl Who Loved Her Horses

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine the present psychic issues experienced by First Nations / native children that hinders many young individuals which lead to major issues in the present-day society. First Nations children encounter many physical and psychological hurdles in their lives, and such obstacles either cripple their personality development or help them channelize their inherent potential. Hence, the study focuses on Drew Hayden Taylor's play, Girl Who Loved Her Horses, which stages the difficulties that are faced by the native children, and how they overcome it positively. The critical intervention of this paper is limited to the protagonist, Danielle, a girl who resorts to drawing horses in order to give vent to all the distress that stifles her life. It also emphasizes on the significance of the horse in the lives of native people whose lives are embedded with the non-human being, respecting the cosmic forces that governed their lives. The paper finds that art plays a significant role in shaping Danielle's personality which otherwise would have been stunted on account of the inaffable living conditions of the First Nations.