The film was selected in 1999 for preservation in the US National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant." It was the first feature-length film whose cast was composed entirely of Native North Americans; the second, eight years later, was Robert Flaherty's "Nanook of the North". Most of the film was shot on the Deer Island near Fort Rupert, British Columbia. It was the first feature film made in British Columbia, and is the oldest surviving feature film made in Canada.