The Loon's Necklace

The Loon's Necklace is a Canadian film, directed by F. R. Crawley and released in 1948.[1] The film recounts the Tsimshian legend of how the loon received the distinctive band of white markings on its neck, by granting the gift of restored sight to a blind Tsimshian medicine man and being given a traditional Tsimshian necklace in return.[2]

The film is based on a folk tale known all across Alaska, Northern Canada, and Greenland. The history of the tale and its significance, along with its popularization through the film are detailed in the book, The Blind Man and the Loon: the Story of a Tale, by Craig Mishler (2013). 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.[3]

The film is narrated by George Gorman, and performed by actors in traditional West Coast First Nations masks in front of a backdrop of brightly coloured oil paintings.[4] The film has sometimes been erroneously credited to the National Film Board of Canada, but was in fact produced by Crawley's own independent studio Crawley Films after being rejected by the NFB.[4]

The film won the inaugural Canadian Film Award for Film of the Year in 1949.[5]