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Legend of the Raven

Accession number: 
1957.0007
Alternate Titles: 
La Légende du corbeau
French version
Production Years: 
1957

Languages:

Film Properties: 
Length (feet): 
500 (16mm)
Length (minutes): 
15
Holding Institutions: 

University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia: 16mm.
"Using soapstone carvings, this Eskimo legend tells how the raven lost his power to speak because of his greed during a famine."

Library and Archives Canada: 16mm, VHS, 1/4"
"Animated short making use of Eskimo carvings to tell the story."

University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta: 16mm.
"Stone and ivory carvings recreate a legend of the Canadian Eskimo people. Early in the spring, long ago, the hunting was bad and the people hungry. A sea gull granted one egg to a raven who was asked by a man and his son to help look for game. But the raven ate three eggs and incurred the wrath of all the birds. When the man asked, "Raven, where is the game?" it could not answer. Since that day, the sea gull carefully guards her eggs;the raven is an outcast among birds."
From the Catalogue of 16mm Educational Motion Pictures. Published by the Educational Media Division, Department of Extension, University of Alberta, Edmonton, 1967.

Bibliography: 

Online Database National Film Board of Canada.
"En des mots simples comme les formes que l'artiste inuit donne à ses sculptures, voici l'histoire du méfait qui entraîna chez le corbeau la perte de la parole. Les personnages de pierre et d'ivoire s'éveillent à la vie dans un décor fantastique de neige et de glaces."

"An Eskimo legend that tells why the raven can no longer speak as men do, an ability that it once possessed. Like most Eskimo legends this one, too, is founded on the belief that there are spirits in all things animate and inanimate."

National Film Board of Canada, Films by Other Producers Distributed in Canada by the National Film Board of Canada/Films de divers producteurs distribués au Canada par l’Office national du film du Canada (Montreal: National Film Board of Canada, c.1968), 6, 10.
"An introduction to Eskimo art, which, by clever setting and camera work, tells a fascinating Eskimo legend."

"La légende du corbeau nous reporte à cette époque lointaine où les animaux parlaient le langage de l'homme, à condition toutefois de n'être pas trop gourmands."

Imperial Oil, Selection of 16mm Films Available Without Charge to Schools, Church Groups, Service Clubs and Similar Organizations (n.d.: Imperial Oil).
"Eskimos are born storytellers. One of their favorite tales is the story of a raven who is defeated by his own greediness and banished forever from the society of men and birds. On bitter-cold winter evenings in the Canadian north, Eskimo children will huddle at the feet of their elders and beg to hear again the story of the selfish raven.
This story is the subject of 'The Legend of the Raven', an unusual and hauntingly beautiful color film. Authentic Eskimo carvings are the only 'actors' in the cast. A weirdly-pitched Yugoslavian flute is used to simulate the sound of a howling wind. From recordings borrowed from the National Museum, Eskimo chants are reproduced.
The film grew out of discussions between Judith Crawley, a private film producer, and James Houston, an officer with the Department of Northern Affairs and an expert on Eskimo art. Together, with painstaking care, they assembled the stone carvings. Some they borrowed from the Canadian Handicrafts Guild, some from private collectors.
'The Legend of the Raven' is an absorbing film drama that pays high tribute to Eskimo art, music and folklore and preserves an example of Canada's most ancient culture."

Imperial Oil, Un choix de films 16mm prêtés, à titre grâcieux, aux maisons d'enseignement, clubs sociaux et autres groupements (n.d.: Imperial Oil).
"Les Esquimaux sont naturellement d'excellents conteurs. L'un de leurs récits favoris est l'histoire d'un corbeau perdu par sa gloutonnerie et banni à jamais de la société des oiseaux et des hommes. Par les soirées de grands froids du nord canadien, les petits Esquimaux se serrent autour des aïeuls pour entendre une fois de plus l'histoire de ce corbeau égoïste.
Voilà le sujet de 'La Légende du corbeau', un film original et splendide, qui met en scène des sculptures d'Esquimaux comme seuls personnages de ce film en couleurs. Une flûte yougoslave au curieux timbre aigu imite le sifflement du vent. Les chants esquimaux sont tirés d'enregistrements prêtés par le Musée national.
La pellicule a été élaborée à la suite de discussions entre Judith Crawley, réalisatrice indépendante, et James Houston, expert en art esquimau au ministère du Grand Nord. Au prix de longs efforts, ils ont réuni les sculptures nécessaires, dont quelques-unes empruntées à la Canadian Handicraft Guild et à divers collectionneurs.
'La Légende du corbeau', film hautement dramatique, met en lumière la beauté de l'art et du folklore esquimaux. Il présente un intéressant témoignage de la culture la plus ancienne au Canada."