Five Little Indians

After being removed from their homes at a young age and placed in a secluded residential school managed by a church, Kenny, Lucy, Clara, Howie, and Maisie are only a few years old when they are eventually let free.

In the sleazy and strange world of Downtown Eastside Vancouver, the kids, alone and without any skills, support, or families, make their way. There, they cling to one other while trying to find a place of safety and belonging in a world that doesn't want them. The five companions' paths diverge and intersect over the years as they work to get past the pain they experienced while attending the Mission, or at the very least, forget it.

Driven by hatred and resentment towards God, Clara discovers her way into the perilous and intense realm of the American Indian Movement. Maisie internalizes her suffering and puts herself in risky circumstances on a regular basis. Kenny, who gained notoriety for his audacious school escapes, is a restless runner who constantly runs from job to job, logging camps, fishing areas, and orchards in an effort to outrun his addiction and his recollections. As Lucy waits for Kenny to return to the life they had wanted to have together, she finds serenity in motherhood and tends to a hidden obsessive disorder. Howie served time in prison for nearly beating one of his tormentors to death before making another attempt to reenter society and start over.

Five Little Indians tells the story of five residential school survivors' harrowing journey to accept their history and, eventually, find a path ahead with empathy and understanding.