The 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 Inuit and Athabaskan.

Story

A blind boy lives with an abusive female guardian, either a mother, grandmother, or stepmother. He also has a sister. One day a 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.

A common loon

The boy goes to a lake, where he is brought underwater by a loon. The loon brings him underwater and surfaces several times. Each time they surface the boy can see a little more. By the end his sight is entirely restored.

Now that he can see, the boy takes part in a beluga whale hunt at the beach. His guardian comes hunting too, serving as the anchor for the harpoon line. A rope is tied around her waist, and her job is to pull back and brace against the whale. She is pulled out to sea by the whale, either because the boy did not help her pull back, or because he deliberately harpooned a whale that was too large. The large whale pulls her into the water, and she is lost. In some versions she becomes a narwhal, her hair becoming the horn.

Variants

• Sun and Moon (Inuit myth) is an extended Inuit version of the story, where there's a couple more events after that and it ends with the brother and sister becoming the Sun and Moon.

Visual art

Prints

• Josephie Pootoogook et al. (Kananginak Pootoogook) (1959). Legend of the Blind Man and the Bear (sealskin stencil). Cape Dorset.
• Kiakshuk et al. (Iyola Kingwatsiak (printmaker)) (1960). The Legend of Lumiuk (stonecut). Cape Dorset.
• Kiakshuk et al. (Iyola Kingwatsiak (printmaker)) (1961). Lumiuk and the Whales (stonecut). Cape Dorset.
• Davidialuk Alasua Amittu (1962). Lumak (stonecut). Puvirnituq.
• Davidialuk Alasua Amittu (1963). Legend of Lumak (stonecut). Puvirnituq.
• Pitseolak Ashoona (1968). Legend of the Narwhal (stonecut). Cape Dorset.
• Agnes Nanogak et al. (Harry Egutak (printmaker)) (1975). Blind Boy (stonecut). Holman Island.
• Victoria Mamnguqsualuk et al. (Phillipa Iksiraq (printmaker)) (1982). Brother Moon and Sister Sun (linocut). Baker Lake, Nunavut.
• Tukalak Lucassie Kuuniluusi (1990). Blind man who recovered his eyesight from the loons (stonecut).

Figurines

• In the 1960s, Puvirnituq artist Aisa Qupiqrualuk carved a collection of 5 soapstone figurines depicting various scenes in the story.

Screen adaptations

• The Loon's Necklace is a 1948 Canadian film, drawing from a Tsimshian version of the story.
• Lumaaq is a 1975 animated short film by Co Hoedeman, drawing from a Povungnituk version of the tale.
• Lumaajuuq: The Blind Boy and the Loon is a 2009 animated, short film by Alethea Arnaquq-Baril.