Where the Spirit Lives
A moving tribute to a young girl's courage and indomitable spirit...
96 mins
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.
Kim Bruisedhead Fox
Anataki
Marianne Jones
Komi's Mother
Gus Chief Moon
Ka - moos - ee
Clayton Julian
Pita / Abraham
Margaret Cozry
Grandmother
Marge Fox
Anataki's Mother
Sean Mulcahy
Priest
Tina Louise Bomberry
Asst. Supervisor #2
Barbara Wheeldon
Matron
Heather Hess
Rachel
Cynthia Debassige
Esther
Franklin Doss
George
Darlene Shilling
Rose
Margaret Martina
Sarah
Sarah Williams
Ruth
Rudy Medicine Crane
Rachel's Mother
Eric Jordan
Producer
Jane Manchee
Set Decoration
Nancy Harvey
Production Manager
Valanne Ridgeway
Production Design
Heather Haldane
Producer
Keith Ross Leckie
Writer
Arlene Berman
Casting
Paul Stephens
Executive Producer
Bruce Pittman
Director
Scott Shepherd
Producer
Nicole Demers
Makeup Artist
Perry Kutsch
Hairstylist
Tim Bider
Art Direction
Sylvie Krasker
Costume Design
Mary Young Leckie
Producer
Michael Todd
Editor