Native American Heritage Month

Red Crow Mi'gMaq reservation, 1976: by government decree, every Indian child under the age of 16 must attend residential school. In the kingdom of the Crow, that means imprisonment at St. Dymphna's. That means being at the mercy of "Popper," the sadistic Indian agent who runs the school. At 15, Aila is the weed princess of Red Crow. Hustling with her uncle Burner, she sells enough dope to pay Popper her "truancy tax," keeping her out of St.Ds. But when Aila's drug money is stolen and her father Joseph returns from prison, the precarious balance of Aila's world is destroyed. Her only options are to run or fight...and Mi'gMaq don't run.

Reminiscent of the U.S. Government's 19th century efforts to forcibly educate Native American children in boarding schools, the film examines the social and cultural implications of modern efforts to educate the Buddhist Ladakh.