Fiction based on sad fact, this Canadian feature set in the late thirties tells of the routine kidnapping of Native children by government agents. "For their own good," these children are taken from their tribal homes and spirited off to Christian schools where the Indian is coerced and, if necessary, beaten out of them. The story focuses on Komi, re-named Amelia, a 13-year-old Blackfoot who refuses to be cowed by her brutal keepers; still, she searches for a way to adapt to this strange new world without compromising her identity. Michelle St. John is a fascinating actress who gives Komi/Amelia the combination of sly and passionate rebellion necessary to counteract both white authority and our potentially sentimental response to her predicament. If the film has its Grand Guignol elements (among them a viciously hypocritical headmaster) and its sentimental ones (the naive schoolteacher who takes Amelia under her wing), these are more than countered by fine performances by young Native actors and a studied portrayal of Native rituals and concerns.