Blind Man and the Loon

The Blind Man (or Boy) and the Loon, also commonly known as the Lumaaq Story (also spelled Lumiuk or Lumak), among other names, is a folktale told all over Greenland, Canada, and down into parts of the United States, though most heavily retold by Inuit and Athabaskan speakers. A blind boy lives with an abusive female guardian, either a mother, grandmother, or stepmother. He also has a sister. One day a polar bear arrives in their camp. Through the window of their house, the blind boy shoots the bear. His guardian lies, telling him he missed and then keeps the bear's meat for herself and the sister. The sister brings meat to the boy in secret. The boy goes to a lake, where he is brought underwater by a loon. The loon brings him underwater and surfaces several times.