Hochelaga, Land of Souls

Baptiste is a graduate student specializing in Mohawk history and archaeology under Professor Morin. His academic expertise and his ancestral connection to the site make him the ideal person to lead the excavation. He is also struggling financially and needs the work, which motivates him to accept the position despite his other commitments.

His ancestors were connected to the Isle of Death centuries earlier, setting up his role in the discovery.

A fierce rainstorm during a football game triggers a dramatic sinkhole that opens beneath the field at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium. The collapse is severe enough to kill one player and exposes the ground beneath, which Morin realizes could contain historical artifacts related to the area's Indigenous past.

Professor Morin theorizes that the sinkhole might reveal evidence of Hochelaga, the Indigenous settlement Jacques Cartier visited in 1535. The Ministry of Culture approves an excavation, which ultimately uncovers Cartier's cross, confirming the site's historical significance as the location of early European-Indigenous contact.

The discovery of Cartier's cross at the end ties the present-day dig directly to the 1535 arrival.

Étienne Maltais represents the tragic consequences of colonial contact in 1687. His relationship with the Indigenous woman Akwi and his promise to marry her according to Indigenous customs rather than Catholic rites makes him a symbol of resistance against colonial religious imposition. His death from purple fever illustrates the devastating impact of European diseases on Indigenous populations.

The purple fever outbreak is later connected to the site's dark history as the Isle of Death.

Étienne Maltais promises Akwi that he will marry her the following year, not before God but the Great Spirit. When Akwi notices sores on his body, he initially dismisses them as a hunting accident, but he soon falls gravely ill with purple fever. He dies in the hospital after a Catholic chaplain condemns his relationship with a Indigenous woman as sin, with Maltais defiantly rejecting the priest's judgment.

Baptiste discovers weapons believed to belong to Patriote rebels who fled Loyalist forces during the 1837 Lower Canada Rebellion. Two Patriotes took refuge on the Walker property, where widowed Sarah Walker sheltered them. They were eventually found and killed by Loyalist troops led by Colonel Philip Thomas, adding another layer of colonial conflict to the site's history.

The weapons provide physical evidence of the 1837 rebellion and its violent suppression.

Finding Cartier's cross is the climactic discovery of the excavation. It confirms that the site is indeed where Jacques Cartier met with the Hochelaga chief Tennawake in 1535. The cross symbolizes both the moment Europeans first claimed the land for France and the beginning of centuries of colonial impact on Indigenous peoples, bridging ancient and modern histories.

Cartier's naming of the land as Mont Réal foreshadows future European settlement.

Two Patriote rebels fleeing Loyalist forces during the Lower Canada Rebellion sought refuge on the Walker property. The widowed Sarah Walker sheltered them, but Loyalist troops led by Colonel Philip Thomas eventually discovered and killed the fugitives. Sarah tells the colonel she doubts she will ever stand trial due to her advanced age, highlighting the personal toll of choosing loyalty to rebels over colonial authority.

In 1267, after a massacre on the Isle of Death, the sole surviving Iroquoian was named Asigny by an Iroquoian prophet. Centuries later, Baptiste Asigny is revealed to be a descendant of this original Asigny. This prophecy anchors the film's exploration of Indigenous history, as Baptiste unknowingly fulfills his ancestor's legacy by uncovering the truths buried beneath the land.

The naming establishes the prophetic lineage that Baptiste continues.

Purple fever was a disease that struck the Isle of Death in 1687, devastating both Indigenous people and settlers. The outbreak is significant because it connects the site to a period of catastrophic illness introduced by Europeans, which the Indigenous population had no immunity against. The discovery of this outbreak links the location to a dark chapter of disease and cultural collapse.

Étienne Maltais contracts the disease, linking his personal tragedy to this historical event.

Sarah Walker tells Colonel Philip Thomas that she doubts she will ever stand trial because of her advanced age. This remark underscores the personal cost of war and loyalty, she chose to shelter the Patriotes despite knowing the consequences, and her age suggests she will likely die before facing legal judgment, making her defiance both tragic and somewhat moot.