Where the Spirit Lives is a 1989 television film about Aboriginal children in Canada being taken from their tribes to attend residential schools for assimilation into majority culture.

The film stars Michelle St. John as Amelia, a young Kainai girl captured and confined to the residential school system of the 1930s.

Combined with the rejection of her peers (as she is a so-called "Bush Indian" who has not learnt white customs), Komi attempts to escape one night on foot with her little brother, Pita (Clayton Julian).

Now Amelia, Komi improves her English quickly with the kindness and support of her teacher, gradually adjusting to the school environment while retaining her Kainai identity.

The idea for the film originated when the producers and screenwriter were working on the 13-episode CBC television series Spirit Bay, which focused on native children growing up on a Northern Ontario Indian reserve.