Explain what you believe is the significance of God’s Lake. (Chapters 5 and 6)

Saul's grandfather journeyed to Gods Lake, and he had visions that his family settled by the lake and harvested rice living a tranquil life. When Saul returns to Gods Lake, he observes that the river running into it turns “into a huge, serpentine creature, undulating and curving” (Chapter 50). It is reminiscent of Saul’s own shape-shifting on the hockey rink, when he turns into a bird, as well as the many moments in the novel where the land is personified. Seeing the river as a living creature with its own motion, Saul lets go of his own role as navigator and allows the water to carry him. Saul’s return to Gods Lake is hence guided not by his own initiative, but by his willingness to let go and listen to the land, as he did to his great-grandfather. This resonates with the broader theme of community and ancestry in Indian Horse, which values cooperation over individualism and sees our connections with each other as extending seamlessly to the land.