The film captures the atmosphere of alienation of people who have been taken away from their own being, people who have been forced to adopt new methods and cultures which are not part of them. The “new home”, which happens to be the school where the children are taken is a place filled with cruelty, fear, and abuse. The original home of the children was a place built with love and care, where people were proud of their culture and languages (Miller, 84). The children lead a dull life, full of mistreatments and agony while the teachers enjoy everything. The teachers mistreat the children and even treat them as wives and husbands, which creates a great rift between the two. The aim of the Canadian government was to make the children forget their languages and cultures making them obey and even adopt the Canadian language and cultures.
The Anglican Church was dedicated to educating the young children as a way of showing how their cultures were meaningless and valueless, and so, they argued there was the need to show them the ways of the white man. The closure of the schools set a new view of the Aboriginals, as people who are less privileged, to individuals who require equity and equality just like any other man. The process of installing new cultures to the small children is through violence and instilled fear and agony. Some cultures such as the Sun Dance ritual, and the smudging, which is made up of smoke and prayers, mark the cultures of the children. The children are exposed to a significant level of cruelty for punishments such as physical, mental and sexual abuses on the children. The children are also stripped naked and forced to line up before everyone in the school. The punishment, however, is a mistreatment because the children are sexually abused, and physically and mentally tormented, causing them to escape and even die.
Kathleen is positioned as a helper, someone who stands for the children although she’s helpless and she has less to offer to the children regarding help. She is forced to accept anything which the school offers for her and the children. The theme of deception occurs where the Canadian government and the Anglican Church seem to make the children believe that their cultures are valueless and that they need to adopt the white man's’ culture because it’s more superior to the aboriginals. The adoption is because she would like to experience the new culture of the native people. She doesn’t want to have her children undergo through the same cruelty as the aboriginal children.
Works Cited
Miller, Mary Jane. "Where the Spirit Lives: an influential and contentious television drama about residential schools." American Review of Canadian Studies 31.1-2 (2001): 71-84.
