In the book, “Where the Spirit Lives”, people from the Black Foot tribe were taken to a Residential School in Canada. A Residential school is also known as a boarding school. The children had to be strong, both physically and emotionally, in order to survive. If they weren’t strong, they had their spirits crushed. Teachers tried to crush the children’s spirits. Some similarities between the movie, “Where the Spirit Lives”, and the book, “The Good Path”, were that the children had their names changed, they were punished, and they couldn’t speak their language.
Amelia had several friends named George, Rachael and Ester. One of Amelia’s friends, Rachael, helped Amelia get through rough times. Rachael was molested by one of the teachers and she told Amelia, and Amelia was very upset. One night, Rachael ran away and didn’t have any food or water, and she was brought back dead a few days later after she had escaped. George, Amelia, Abraham, and the teacher, had a ceremony for Rachael. Amelia’s boyfriend, George, was taken away by a police man because he beat someone up. A teacher told Amelia that her family was dead. Another one of Amelia’s friends told her that the teacher had lied to her so she wouldn’t run away again. Amelia and her brother ran away by stealing a horse, and went back home so they could be with their family.
After I had watched the movie, “Where the Spirit Lives” and I have read chapter 8 in, “The Good Path”, I realized that it was very had to survive on your own. Especially with no family or relatives around because you wouldn’t have any support at all. You would just be on your own all the time, unless you made new friends. You would have to take care of yourself if you were sick because the teachers didn’t care at all for you. The relatives back home would have to be hopeful, and hope that their children/grandchildren at the boarding school were surviving, and that they were still alright.
