Where the Spirit Lives (1990)

A moving tribute to a young girl's courage and indomitable spirit...

In 1937, a young First Nations 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. Taken to a boarding school where she's forced to adopt Western Euro-centric ways and learn English, often under brutal treatment, she has the support of one sympathetic white teacher.

Cast (27)CrewGenresDetailsReleasesMediaAwards

Michelle St. John

Komi / Amelia

K

Kim Bruisedhead Fox

Anataki

M

Marianne Jones

Komi's Mother

G

Gus Chief Moon

Ka - moos - ee

C

Clayton Julian

Pita / Abraham

M

Margaret Cozry

Grandmother

M

Marge Fox

Anataki's Mother

Ann-Marie MacDonald

Kathleen

S

Sean Mulcahy

Priest

Sam Malkin

Mr. Crawford

Doris Petrie

Miss Weir

Chapelle Jaffe

Miss Appleby

T

Tina Louise Bomberry

Asst. Supervisor #2

B

Barbara Wheeldon

Matron

John Friesen

Mr. Babcock

H

Heather Hess

Rachel

C

Cynthia Debassige

Esther

F

Franklin Doss

George

D

Darlene Shilling

Rose

M

Margaret Martina

Sarah

S

Sarah Williams

Ruth

Patricia Collins

Mrs. Barrington

Graham Greene

Komi's Father

R

Rudy Medicine Crane

Rachel's Mother

David Hemblen

Reverend Buckley

Ron White

Taggert

S

Sarah Williams

Ruth

If you liked Where the Spirit Lives, you might also like…

91% match

Indian Horse

2018

86% match

Rez Ball

2024

82% match

Skin

2009

78% match

Crooked Arrows

2012

74% match

Billy Jack

1971

72% match

The Dead Don't Hurt

2024

71% match

The Book Thief

2013

66% match

All Together Now

2020

64% match

Doubt

2008

60% match

My Neighbor Adolf

2022

60% match

The Boys of St. Vincent

1994

60% match

Pay It Forward

2000

60% match

The Way West

1967

60% match

Kid Cannabis

2014

60% match

No One Would Tell

1996

60% match

Call Me Crazy: A Five Film

2013

60% match

Beyond the Blackboard

2011

60% match

Robinson Crusoe

1997

60% match

The Darkest Minds

2018

60% match

Across the Tracks

1991

Similar films

Up Heartbreak Hill

2012

The New World

2005

Looking for Angelina

2005

C.R.A.Z.Y.

2005

Monarch

2000

The Unholy

2022

Little Big Man

1970

Fly Away Home

1996

Evil

2003

Ka Mate! Ka Mate!

1987

Dances with Wolves

1990

Nanook of the North

1922