“One of the stories I tell the many students and visitors who come to the Fort St. James Historic Park where I volunteer is this one,” says Violet Prince. “Five to six hundred students visit the Park each June. They always enjoy this story.”
There once was a blind man. His wife would go with him into the mountains and into the meadows to help him hunt. Whenever she saw an animal, his wife would point his arrow for him. The man would pull back his bow and release it and would usually hit his mark. One day, the couple came upon a large caribou. The wife handed her husband an arrow and pointed it towards the animal. He shot the caribou, but she shouted at him, “You are such a bad hunter! You missed the caribou!. The woman pushed the man to the ground saying she was tired of living with an old blind man and left him there alone. The old man cried out for his wife and wandered around calling to her. Eventually, he reached the shore of the lake. A loon heard his cries and swam over to him. “What is wrong?” asked the loon. “My wife has left me because I am a bad hunter and I am blind,” answered the man. “I will help you,” said the loon. “Hop onto my back.” The old man hopped onto the loon’s back and they dove under the water. When they returned to the surface, the loon asked. “Can you see now?” The old man answered, “I can see a little, but it is misty.“ So the loon dove under the water again. When they resurfaced the loon asked, “Now can you see?” “I can see now! Thank you!” said the man. He reached into his pocket and took out some white beads. The man tossed the beads to the loon and they landed around his neck and on his wings.
And that is how the loon got its spots.