''The Loon's Necklace'' is a Canadian film, directed by F. R. Crawley and released in 1948. The film recounts the

Tsimshian The Tsimshian (; tsi, Ts’msyan or Tsm'syen) are an Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Their communities are mostly in coastal British Columbia in Terrace and Prince Rupert, and Metlakatla, Alaska on Annette Island, the only ...

legend of how the

loon Loons (North American English) or divers ( British / Irish English) are a group of aquatic birds found in much of North America and northern Eurasia. All living species of loons are members of the genus ''Gavia'', family Gaviidae and order G ...

received the distinctive band of white markings on its neck, by granting the gift of restored sight to a blind Tsimshian

medicine man A medicine man or medicine woman is a traditional healer and spiritual leader who serves a community of Indigenous people of the Americas. Individual cultures have their own names, in their respective languages, for spiritual healers and cerem ...

and being given a traditional Tsimshian necklace in return. The film is based on a folk tale known all across Alaska, Northern Canada, and Greenland, The Blind Man and the Loon. The variant of the tale used by Crawley was recorded during the early 1930s in British Columbia by Douglas Leechman of the National Museum of Canada. The film is narrated by George Gorman, and performed by actors in traditional West Coast

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: ** First Nat ...

masks in front of a backdrop of brightly coloured

oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest ...

s."Treasures from 'Canada's King of Film': F.R. Crawley gave the country its first feature film Oscar and changed driver's ed films". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

'', February 27, 2016. The film has sometimes been erroneously credited to the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

, but was in fact produced by Crawley's own independent studio Crawley Films after being rejected by the NFB.

Production

The film had a budget between $7,000 () and $10,000 (). It was sold to

Imperial Oil Imperial Oil Limited (French: ''Compagnie Pétrolière Impériale Ltée'') is a Canadian petroleum company. It is Canada's second-biggest integrated oil company. It is majority owned by American oil company ExxonMobil with around 69.6 percent ...

for $5,000 and the company commissioner Crawley to make ''

Newfoundland Scene ''Newfoundland Scene'' is a Canadian documentary film, directed by F. R. Crawley and released in 1951. Shot in 1949 to mark the admission of Newfoundland to Canadian Confederation Canadian Confederation (french: Confédération canadienne, li ...

'' due to the success of ''The Loon's Necklace''.

Reception

Arthur Crawley considered the film a financial failure as they failed to sell it to the

, but the film later earned $1.5 million over the course of thirty years. The film won the inaugural

Canadian Film Award The Canadian Film Awards were the leading Canadian cinema awards from 1949 until 1978. These honours were conducted annually, except in 1974 when a number of Quebec directors withdrew their participation and prompted a cancellation. In the 1970s ...

for Film of the Year at the

1st Canadian Film Awards The 1st Canadian Film Awards were presented on April 27, 1949 to honour achievements in Canadian film.Maria Topalovich, ''And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards''. Stoddart Publishing, 2000. . pp. 5-7. The ceremo ...

in 1949."Loon's Necklace Wins Canadian Film Award". '' The Globe and Mail'', March 30, 1949.

References

Works cited

External links

* *Watc
The Loon's Necklace
at the American Indian Film Gallery,

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. ...

1948 films Canadian drama short films First Nations films Best Picture Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Canadian historical films 1948 historical films 1940s Canadian films {{short-film-stub