| “ | It's 1937, you can't stay ignorant savages forever. | „ |
| ~ Taggert mocking Komi's mother as he takes her children away. |
Taggert is a supporting antagonist in the 1989 historical television film Where the Spirit Lives. He is an Indian agent who was responsible for kidnapping two Kainai children named Ashtoh-Komi and Pita and transporting them to a Canadian residential school run by Reverend Buckley.
He was portrayed by Ron White.
Biography[]
When Taggert arrives at a Kainai village on his plane, a group of Kainai children comes by and Taggert introduces himself to the children. Taggert gives the children candy canes and forces them into his plane. As Taggert closes the door on the children, Komi panics and her mother tries to come to her aid, but Taggert pulls her away and informs her that he's an Indian agent working for the Canadian government. Komi's mother spits on Taggert and the agent replies that her children are required to go to residential schools before flying off with the children. Taggert then transports the children by train and they arrive at a residential school. Taggert decides to take Komi and Pita to another school after Komi becomes defensive over Pita as one of the priests tries to examine her brother. Taggert then meets up with a new teacher named Kathleen Gwillimbury and introduces the two children to Kathleen before they head off to the King George V Indian Mission. Upon arriving at the residential school, Ms. Weir rechristens the two children as Amelia and Abraham and Taggert informs the kids to act "civilized" before leaving the school.
Later, Komi and Pita escape the residential school and Ms. Appleby informs Ms. Weir about their escape. As the children are walking on a railroad, they come across an army of soldiers randomly moving across the tracks and are caught by Taggert. The two children try to flee, but Taggert follows them and recaptures them. Taggert brings the two children back to the school and the other students cheer upon their arrival. Taggert asks Kathleen about her work, to which Kathleen replies that he should ask Buckley about his prayers instead.
The next day, when Kathleen comes into Buckley's office, Buckley informs her that RCMP superintendent Gilchrist had recently informed him that an epidemic had struck Komi's village and that Taggert has confirmed that Komi's parents had fallen victim. Kathleen informs Komi about the news and she becomes devastated to hear that her parents had supposedly died.
During a Christmas party, Taggert talks to Kathleen about her career and introduces her to a widowed woman named Mrs. Wilhelmina Barrington, who wishes to adopt Komi and Pita and take them to Montreal, much to Kathleen's dismay. Taggert later takes Komi and Kathleen to Barrington's house to get them to know each other more for Komi to get adopted.
Kathleen eventually finds out that Buckley and Taggert lied to her about the deaths of Komi's parents after Buckley dissuaded them from picking up their children as they inquired if their children were at the school. Kathleen condemns Buckley for his treachery, to which he justifies his actions by stating that Komi would "have the freedom" to escape her culture forever. He also points out that Komi is an intelligent and bright girl, thanks to Kathleen's efforts of educating her. He states that if Komi can lead a better life as an adoptive heiress to Mrs. Barrington's wealth, and if she let her parents return her home, her efforts would go to waste and suffer a life of poverty. This results in Buckley successfully putting Kathleen in his pocket by using reverse psychology to prevent her from calling Komi's parents to return to the school to pick her and Pita up.
The next day, Rachel's mother comes to visit her child and Ms. Appleby ends their time together. Rachel rushes back to her mom, but is taken away by Appleby. Kathleen tries to intervene, but Taggert stops her and tells her not to interfere. The next morning, when the school finds out that Rachel had escaped to reunite with her family, Kathleen mocks Taggert for his lack of tracking abilities, to which Taggert arrogantly replies that he always finds his escapees and assures Kathleen that keeping the children in line is her responsibility.
Three days later, Taggert finds Rachel dead and brings her corpse back to the school, where he informs Buckley that Rachel didn't have the strength to keep up with her tribe while they were migrating. During Rachel's funeral, as Buckley gives out a speech about her death, Taggert corrects her real name is Poona and calls him out for letting Rachel die trying to escape the school before storming off. Taggert quits his job and informs Kathleen to not become like the other teachers before riding off on his horse.
Taggert's courageous act of quitting his job lead to Komi and Pita escaping the school successfully without anyone stopping them after finding out about Buckley's lies and realizing that their parents are alive.