Where the Spirit Lives (1990)

60 %
based on 4 user ratings
Where the Spirit Lives on IMDb 7.2/10 215 votes

Released:
1990-06-06

Overview:
In 1937, a young First Nations (Canadian native) girl named Ashtecome is kidnapped along with several other children from a village as part of a deliberate Canadian policy to force First Nations children to abandon their culture in order to be assimilated into white 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 brutal treatment. Only one sympathetic white teacher who is more and more repelled by this bigotry offers her any help from among the staff. That, with her force of will, Ashtecome (forced to take the name Amelia) is determined to hold on to her identity and that of her siblings, who were also abducted.

Director:
Bruce Pittman

Runtime:
1h 36min

Genre:
Drama

  • Cast:
  • Michelle St. John
    as
    Komi / Amelia
  • Kim Bruisedhead Fox
    as
    Anataki
  • Marianne Jones
    as
    Komi's Mother
  • Gus Chief Moon
    as
    Ka - moos - ee
  • Clayton Julian
    as
    Pita / Abraham