Land of Souls
Island of the Dead
Sacrificed sons,
now the night descends on you.
The earth calls you into her circle.
O Great Spirit, whose breath gives life to all things,
hear my voice.
I am weak,
my anger blinds me.
Give me the strength
to bind the wounds that cry out,
to dispel the poison of hatred.
Grant peace to this bleeding earth,
the sacred land of our ancestors.
Ready for the big day?
Yes.
All good, Baptiste?
All good.
You're going to make waves!
And make people jealous, too.
Antoine...
Thanks!
You, son Who was spared,
stolen from death...
A new name I give you
to wash away the blood of this massacre.
So your children,
and the children of your children,
will know neither hatred nor war.
From this day, you will be called
Asigny.
You will make your name known.
You will recount what you saw here,
when the blood of your brothers flowed.
Good morning.
For those not familiar with the procedure,
first we will present a summary of the thesis.
Maximum 30 minutes.
Followed by a question period in which the committee will intervene.
I'd like to welcome them. Mr Chairperson...
Chief Mitchell...
Before Mr Asigny begins,
I'd like to stress that his thesis
is the outcome of 10 years' work,
as he was twice forced to lay it aside.
So I want to congratulate him on his perseverance
and thank him on behalf of the archeological community.
Mr Asigny...
Dr Morin,
members of the jury...
my thesis is the result of months of digging
and over five years of analysis.
So summing it up in 30 minutes is a challenge in itself.
Before I present my central argument,
I'll mention that the site I studied,
the Percival Molson Stadium,
proved to be particularly rich.
Six Years Earlier
Mr Asigny, it's Ms Courteau from the Ministry.
Unfortunately, I must inform you that your application has been rejected.
However, if you're interested...
Hello Baptiste, me again.
Your rent's three months fate. I need it by Friday.
Hi Baptiste. ifs me, Mom.
It's been a while since We've seen you back on the reserve.
Kahnawake is just across the river,
in case you've forgotten.
Cali me back.
He)' GUYS, what's up?
Lousy weather.
Hey, Charles.
They said it'd clear up.
Clear up, my ass!
OK, it's time. Hit the locker room.
Should we get out the canoes?
OK, guys, cut the chitchat. Cut the bullshit!
Cali me as soon as you land.
Pm at customs...
Hey, Leblanc!
Sorry. Sorry.
Jules, do me a favor. Put that in my bag, OK?
Tonight, the field's in rough shape. - Absolutely!
This will certainly be a difficult game.
A high risk of injuries.
A game a few years back in similar conditions
left many players sidelined.
PK. Subban's my player. If he's so good, let him prove it!
He has to show strength! You can't be that good and not prove it.
Don't tell me that. No!
Listen to me, he's my player.
The McGill ghetto, please.
No problem, madame.
Like I said, when you're a hockey player of that caliber,
you can't suck like that. I'll lose my pool.
I'll be screwed!
What's the matter with you?
Pull that again and I'll bench you.
A 38-yard play.
He was completely in the open, an easy touchdown.
The players don't seem to realize how serious this game is.
At that rate, they“ lose 168-0.
If not worse.
Ladies and gentlemen, given tonight's events,
we ask you to head toward the exits.
We have to evacuate the stadium.
Win and come home quick. I have news. I love you!
To Montréal, now.
A strange and tragic accident occurred tonight at Molson Stadium.
The playing field suddenly caved in during a football game
between the McGill University Redmen and Bishop's Gaiters.
A player died in this terrible mishap.
He was literally swallowed up when the earth opened beneath his feet.
We will learn more in the coming hours.
We are joined by geologist Benoit Saulnier. Good evening, Mr Saulnier.
Good evening.
This isn't the first such cave-in in Montreal.
We've covered two similar incidents recently.
Yes, it's increasingly frequent, here and elsewhere.
The technical term for it is a sinkhole.
What more can you tell us about sinkholes?
Generally, they're a natural phenomenon
caused by erosion and falling aquifer levels.
Mme Gagne, good evening. Antoine Morin here.
I'm sorry to call you so late.
Yes, exactly. It's an emergency.
Somethings happened at the McGill stadium.
Turn on the TV, you'll see.
I need an exemption.
But a sinkhole in a football stadium is surprising, isn't it?
Immediately. Yes, tonight. Absolutely.
There are no geographic markers. They can occur anywhere.
Mr Saulnier, thank you.
Antoine?
What? Say that again.
A sinkhole at Molson Stadium during a game.
I'm there now. I can see it.
Yes, one person died. A Redmen player.
I have a temporary exemption. We have 24 hours to examine the site.
You absolutely have to see this. Its for you, Baptiste.
OK, come as soon as you can.
Look, I'll call you back.
Mr Mew“?
Captain. Captain Mervil.
Antoine Morin, Université de Montréal
and president of the Quebec Archeological Society.
I've an exemption from the Ministry of Culture.
You have an hour to leave the site.
The Ministry of Culture?
It's a stadium, not a museum.
24 hours, not a minute more.
We'll be back at 6 am tomorrow.
I have news, Charles.
You're going to be a dad.
Pretty impressive, right?
Almost a perfect circle.
It looks like a natural cave-in.
Maybe it is.
Thanks.
Well, we'll see.
What's under here?
For now we don't know much. Built in 1915.
The field has been rebuilt twice. The bleachers, too.
Someone's looking into that.
When did they start pumping? - 11 pm, midnight yesterday.
They went in twice to try to rescue him.
There'll be some scraping, for sure.
East wind,
might of the rising sun,
give us peace as you give us fire.
Watch over the souls of our fallen brothers.
Grant peace to our people
and to all who Walk upon this land.
Hold it, go back.
There.
Traces of posts.
An lroquoian occupation, there's no doubt.
Unpack your shovels, Baptiste!
At the foot of the mountain,
on flat ground...
Could it be?
There's only one my to find out.
Will they let us dig in a stadium?
Football season's over. After what we just saw, they'll have no choice.
This is your chance, Baptiste.
You've waited so long for this.
I'll hire you as a TA and advance you three months' salary.
You can't let a white guy snap this up.
In the name of Allah, most gracious, most merciful.
All the praises be to the Lord of the Worlds.
Forgive him and have mercy on him.
God most mighty has told the truth.
Day 9 of the Dig
Come see!
Cast iron.
Take over.
Mona, you take photos.
Before presenting my main argument,
I'll mention that several artifacts we found were unrelated to my subject.
I catalogued them in a chapter titled Incidental Discoveries.
To begin, this cast-iron stove door,
an artifact in perfect condition
found on the 9th day of digging, one meter down.
We were able to trace the maker.
The Chaligny foundry in northern France began producing cast-iron stoves around 1650.
Wealthy settlers imported several to New France.
We found no occupation of the site around the date of manufacture.
We conclude it was used
at a temporary structure,
a trading post
or a settler's cabin.
Come back home
Your ancestors will tell you
Where you're from
Your ancestors will tell you
How precious is fife
The Great Spirit will tell you
Come back home
In the spring, I will make you my wife.
What do you mean?
I already gave you my life.
I want to marry you, Akwi.
Before your God?
No.
Before the Great Spirit.
Here, now, you and me...
we are already one.
My mother.
This is all I have left of her.
Come back.
Come back, come back, come back.
What are these?
Your skin, your back... You have bloody sores.
I fell... while hunting.
Sing.
Sing some more,
so I won't forget your voice.
Come back. In seven days.
Before nightfall.
In seven days.
You must lie quietly, try to rest.
I'm Sister Marie-Béatrice de la Visitation.
You are at Hotel-Dieu hospital.
I slept...
Two nights and as many days.
You were brought on the Lord's day. Today is Tuesday, just past the Angelus.
Two nights?
You need more rest. Your body is still weak.
Sir,
were you in the company of others
outside Ville-Marie this week past?
It's of great import. Do you understand why?
It's the fever.
Death is coming.
No, it is not your time.
Are you in pain?
Your back or sides? - Yes, yes.
Does your head ache?
My temples are exploding.
Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my supplications...
I have the fever.
Ifs the purple fever.
Like all these souls.
And dozens of others in the colony.
You must entrust your fate to God and his mercy.
Pray.
You must pray.
Sister...
Indeed I did meet someone
the day I came to Ville-Marie.
Or rather, the night.
An Algonquin from the Mountain Mission.
Akwi...
Her name is Akwi.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world...
Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Ghost...
Holy Trinity, one God...
Mama's?
Maltais, is that you?
Leblanc?
Alexis Leblanc?
You didn't expect to see me so soon.
You, here?
A week in this rotten bed drenched in sweat.
Seeing them dispatched, one by one, feet first.
A hundred.
A hundred dead already.
The colony is cursed.
We are the devil's playthings.
The devil has naught to do with it.
He does.
This place is cursed.
The murderous cold.
The constant threat of the Iroquois...
treacherous and bloodthirsty.
We'd be better off among the rats on a sinking galleon.
My sole wish is to return to France.
France?
On the ship your only wish was to escape it.
Once a Frenchman, always a Frenchman.
We're not Frenchmen anymore.
They say the savages call it
the Island of the Dead.
Is it true?
Maltais?
Etienne Maltais?
Wake up, my son.
Seven days no victuals have passed your lips.
You need strength if you are to recover.
Your body requires nourishment.
Stop deluding yourself, my son.
Your soul is also gnawed by disease.
You've fornicated with savages in lewd debauchery.
It was folly to disport with the devil's wantons.
God sees everything!
Evil heretics,
Lutheran apostates,
Mohammedan idolaters
and fornicators!
In his absolute wisdom, he judges us all!
Fear God's wrath, my son.
I tremble on my death bed,
and all you do is harangue and threaten.
Fear the wrath and hellfire that...
Leave me!
Apostate;
Devil...
Repent!
Water... water...
We're leaking.
We're sinking.
We're surrounded, water everywhere!
The rats.
We must drown the rats!
Vermin!
The devil's minions!
Slay them viciously.
I hear the shrieks,
the cries!
We will perish, all.
We will perish, all!
God sees everything!
Forgive me, my God!
Forgive me.
Wm you pray?
Pray for my soul!
Pray for my soul, Sister!
Pray!
West wind,
repel the fire of hatred.
Day 15 of the Dig
And?
1800...1830.
I would've preferred Carrier's sword, but it's something.
Another incidental discovery...
These muskets found 20 meters away.
Given the date and variety of weapons,
they might have belonged to Patriots
whose arms came from various sources.
But the land register shows that, up until 1839,
the property belonged to John C. Walker,
a pillar of English Montreal society
and sworn opponent of the Patriots.
Sure it's here?
We're here to see Mrs Walker.
Wolf red Nelson sent us.
Gentlemen,
this way, please.
I know who you are. Dr Nelson told me to expect you.
You must be exhausted.
Rose will prepare you a meal.
Thank you. But first we'll hide the rifles.
Of course.
Aurélien can assist you.
Here.
Beaugrand, Fleurant,
Girod, Ouimet,
O'Callaghan,
Rocker, Brown, Papineau...
They all gave speeches.
When the assembly was over,
we gathered outside,
expecting the Loyalist thugs in Place d'Armes.
They'd announced a meeting.
I guess they cancelled it. The square was empty.
Near dawn we heard shouts from Rue du Sang. They started hurling rocks at us.
An ambush!
All hell broke loose.
It was a free-for-all, with clubs and knives!
And gunshots.
They smashed the printing press
and the windows at Papineau's home, terrorized his family...
They wish to provoke him,
to force him to take up arms
and justify their aggression.
When the soldiers showed up, we fled to hide at Girod's.
Dr Nelson found us there. I didn't expect to see him.
I thought he was in St-Denis. - He was with us last night.
He slept here, with three of his men.
After he gave us the rifles,
we barely had time to escape out back before the soldiers burst in the front door.
You weren't followed? You saw no one?
No.
We hid in a shed, waiting for things to calm down.
Then we made our way here, over the fields,
away from light, to stay hidden.
They've issued a warrant for your arrest.
Aurélien told me. He has eyes in town.
You must be very careful.
They've doubled the Montreal garrison.
They'll search for you high and low.
Rose will lay out pallets in the attic.
You can get some sleep.
After nightfall we'll take you to a new refuge.
Come back.
North wind,
power of night...
Engrave this day in our memory...
that we may never forget,
and that our brothers
go on living beyond death.
Now, to the main argument of my thesis.
This hydrographic map dating from 1887
clearly shows a stream that intersects with the exact position of the sinkhole.
In fact we'd been digging right over the stream,
which is why we'd found nothing for over a week.
But after this topographical observation,
we dug three new trenches along a modified axis.
And on day 27 we found more traces of the triple palisade,
like the one Jacques Cartier describes in his journal.
Fifteen, twenty.
Maybe more.
And they bellow like beasts.
They left the big boat
in the land of the herons
and now they're rowing upstream in two enormous canoes.
They are here sooner than expected.
They will reach us in the morning.
Prepare the village.
The men tremble with fear, captain.
Their mood is dark. Reassure them.
The demons of Donnacona torment them. - They fear the savages will eat them alive!
If anyone is eaten, it will be me.
But a single bite of me and the savages will fall ill.
Fear has poisoned my flesh.
Captain, the compass has gone mad.
It's you Who is mad.
He stinks.
Silence! Silence!
Tennawake, Grand Chief of Hochelaga.
Welcome to you and your warriors, White Chief. My people greet you.
Captain Jacques Cartier,
servant of Francois I, King of France.
Here,
in this village...
Where we are. This village... Hochelaga.
Mille-Iles.
The land of the herons.
The river that leads and flows here.
The big rive r.
The ocean.
The salty sea.
France.
The Book.
In the beginning was the word, and the word was God.
In him was life, and the life was the light of men,
the true light, Which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
But as many as received him,
to them gave he the power to become the sons of God,
born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man,
but of God.
Give! That it may please them, and dispose them well to us.
A sick warrior.
A burning woman.
A mad shaman.
The mountain.
Sailors...
Gentlemen!
On this third day of October in the year of our Lord 1535,
in the name and for the glory of our sovereign, Francois I of France,
I hereby name this mountain
Mont Real.
They venerate torture.
Beware the savages.
They will be back.
They will cross the salty Water again.
And there will be many more of them.
They will bring their women and build villages.
They will become the friends of our enemies
and the enemies of our friends.
The peace of our nations is threatened.
The children of our children will see blood spilled
until the eighth generation.
Together we are one.
One spirit, one soul.
Remember the law of the Prophet and his word of peace.
O Great Spirit, vi/nose breath gives life to all things,
grant us strength and wisdom.
Lead us to the center of the world on the path of the sacred circle.
Grant peace to all Who Walk upon this earth.
And you, Tennawake,
you must find your voice
and hear your song.
Shaman,
take me to your sacred place.
Day 31 of the Dig
South wind,
power of noon...
give us wisdom once more.
O noble eagle,
you Who fly near the Great Spirit,
carry their prayers on your wings
to the eternal mountain.
Beyond time
and beyond death.
Still nothing?
Still nothing.
Jars, pipes... but no trace of the French.
You've been digging for six weeks.
The ground will freeze over soon.
Yes, I know.
I know that.
We've found traces of posts here
and here.
So we Know the location of the palisade.
I'll search in the center.
It's our best chance to find Cartier.
If this is Hochelaga.
One week.
Baptiste!
I found a cross, Baptiste!
I found a cross!
Mom, it's me, Dawit.
What did you say?
It's Dawit.
Did you say Dawit?
Yes, it's me, Mom.
Do you realize? That's the first time
We heard you say your name in Mohawk.
Researching in France, I found three foundries
that supplied Cartier's second expedition.
The initials GM refer to Dieudonné Gros-Malo, one of the three founders.
In conclusion,
and I'll be brief,
the results of the 2011 archeological dig in Molson Stadium
allow us to conclusively establish the location
of the lroquoian village of Hochelaga,
the historic meeting place of the St Lawrence lroquoians
and Jacques Cartier -
a question disputed by archaeologists,
anthropologists and historians for decades.
I hope that my findings will secure a wide consensus among the community.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr Asigny.
We'll take a short break now and then return for questions.
Thank you.
Bravo, Baptiste! Bravo!
What you found is us!
Thank you.
Great.
Here.
You can drink to my hearth.
See you, doctor.
Thank you.
I left at the break.
You were mobbed by people.
And I had to get my son at daycare.
But thank you for inviting me, Baptiste.
It wasn't that rough. I expected it to be worse.
Now we know Charles is in good company.
I'd be glad to introduce you to my little monster.
O Great Spirit of the Cosmos,
older than any law...
You Who are ageless,
hear my heart cry out.
You are the Spirit of the World,
of the living earth,
of the mountains that speak.
Hear the cries of the suffering souls.
Give them courage to face the night
and return to the earth...
to join the dust of our ancestors.
Asigny, my son,
go among the trees.
There you will find my face.
Carry these stones into the world.
Protect them from being forgotten.
Sacred stones. Mirrors of fire.
Land of Souls
Subtitles: Robert Gray, Kinograph