Where the Spirit Lives
7.4 /10 1 Votes
Initial release September 9, 1989 Screenplay Keith Ross Leckie Writer Keith Ross Leckie Language English | 7.2/10 IMDb Genre Drama Duration Country Canada | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cast Michelle St. John (Komi / Amelia), Kim Bruisedhead Fox (Anataki), Marianne Jones (Komi's Mother), Gus Chief Moon (Ka - moos - ee), Clayton Julian (Pita / Abraham), Margaret Cozry (Grandmother)Similar movies Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb , Argo , The Man from Earth , We're the Millers , Shrek the Third , Man on Fire Tagline A moving tribute to a young girl's courage and indomitable spirit... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Where the spirit lives 1989
Where the Spirit Lives (1989) is a TV movie about Aboriginal children in Canada being taken from their tribes to attend residential schools for assimilation into majority culture. Written by Keith Ross Leckie and directed by Bruce Pittman, it aired on CBC Television in 1989.
Contents
The film starred Michelle St. John as Amelia, a young Kainai girl captured and confined to the residential school system of the 1930s. The system was an attempt to have aboriginal youth to assimilate into the majority European-Canadian culture. Amelia resists assimilation and plans her escape. The film's cast includes Ann-Marie MacDonald and David Hemblen as teachers at the school.
Plot
In 1937, a young Kainai girl named Ashtoh-Komi is kidnapped along with several other children from a village as part of a Canadian policy to educate Aboriginal children and assimilate them into Canadian/British society. She is taken to a boarding school, where she is forced to adopt Western Euro-centric ways and learn English, often under harsh treatment. Combined with the rejection of her peers (as she is a so-called "Bush Indian" who has not learnt white customs), Komi attempts to escape one night on foot with her little brother, Pita. However her plan is quickly foiled as the Indian Agent assigned to the school, Tiger, catches up and brings them back to the school; where Komi is subjected to further punishment. Eventually Rachel, Komi's only ally among the students, plead with the teachers to free her by promising to teach Komi to behave.
One teacher, Kathleen, is portrayed as sympathetic and she becomes repelled by the bigotry of others at the school. She offers Komi help in the form of giving her English lessons which culminate in cultural exchange, where Kathleen learns Kainai words from Komi in exchange for her learning their English counterparts. Now Amelia, Komi improves her English quickly with the kindness and support of her teacher, gradually adjusting to the school environment while retaining her Kainai identity.
Cast
References
Where the Spirit Lives WikipediaWhere the Spirit Lives IMDb Where the Spirit Lives themoviedb.org