Beans

Summer, 1990. In the Mohawk reserve of Kahnawake south of Montreal, preteen Tekahentahkhwa goes by the nickname Beans to make life easier for non-indigenous people. She is a proverbially good, straight-laced, innocent girl, she following her mother Lily's guidance in applying to attend the prestigious, predominantly white Queen Heights Academy in Montreal in the fall. However, her father Kania'tariio believes Beans is doing it solely to please her mother and not because she truly wants to go. Their lives change when an armed standoff occurs at the neighboring Mohawk reserve of Kahnesatake between the Mohawk on one side, and the non-indigenous population of the region and seemingly the police on the other over a land dispute of a proposed non-indigenous golf course expansion impinging on a Mohawk burial ground (what would become generally known as the Oka Crisis). The standoff includes disruption of regional transportation links in the region affecting the Village of Oka. The resulting vitriol and violence between the two sides leads to Beans wanting to be tougher, much like her older smoking, drinking and cursing teen neighbor April. She has to balance that "growing up" with learning the consequences of actions all in the name of standing her ground as Mohawk in this heated environment. The situation is only complicated by Lily's advanced stage of pregnancy.