The Legend of the Boy and the Eagle
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Jack Couffer
Frank De Kova
Stanford Lomakema
Coconino National Forest
Jack Couffer
Jack Couffer
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
While Hopi Indian boys in Arizona perform their traditional eagle dance, a tribal elder relates to the youngsters of the tribe the 500-year-old legend behind the ritual: In the ancient village of Wupatki, ten-year-old Tutuvina climbs to the roof of a cliff dwelling to feed a young eagle, which someday will be sacrificed to the gods for a bountiful corn crop. Tutuvina wears a turquoise necklace, the symbol of tribal membership. The other young braves are jealous because they feel that an older boy, Crawling Wolf, should have the honor of caring for the sacred bird. Time passes, and a warm relationship grows between the boy and the eagle, which he has named Oh Mau Mana. One day the tribal dancers march to a cave where they secretly prepare for the sacrifice. Tutuvina, though aware that interfering with the ritual will defy the gods and disgrace his father, follows his heart and releases the bird, whereupon he is immediately stripped of his honored necklace and banished to the desert for twelve moons. Weary and weak, he falls prey to vultures but is saved by Oh Mau Mana. Tutuvina learns the ways of the eagle and becomes an expert hunter, but he soon becomes homesick and decides to return to his tribe. Though admired as a great hunter he is treated as an outcaste, but he remembers the pride of the eagle and begins an eagle dance. Grabbing Crawling Wolf's necklace, he races to the top of a cliff, spreads his arms, and soars into the air. Before their eyes he is transformed into an eagle and is joined by Oh Mau Mana. Two golden eagles are then seen perched on a ledge surveying their domain, one of them wearing a turquoise necklace. The eagle dance, the storyteller says, is performed by the Hopi boys in remembrance of brave Tutuvina.
Director
Jack Couffer
Crew
Coconino National Forest
Jack Couffer
Jack Couffer
Walt Disney
Ed Durden
Ed Durden
Verna Fields
White Bear Fredericks
White Bear Fredericks
Rusty Jones
Hamilton S. Luske
Franklyn Marks
Lloyd L. Richardson
Walter Sheets
Mclaren Stewart
Joseph Strick
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Location scenes filmed in Coconino National Park, Monument Valley, Canyon de Chelly, Wupatki, National Monument, Arizona; Zuni, New Mexico, and Glen Canyon.
