Common Loon Mask Story

One day a woman took her husband out to the tundra. When he fell asleep she made her breast drip into his eyes, which caused him to become blind. The woman had become weary from skinning many animals, as her husband was a mighty hunter. Now he would be unable to hunt anymore.

When the husband awoke he discovered that he was blind. He crawled around until he came to a lake. There he heard a sound and shouted in that direction. Two men answered his call, and when they came near, they told him to get astride their kayaks. Four times the kayaks sank below the surface, almost drowning the blind man, and as suddenly rose to the top. The fourth dive restored the man's full vision and he was brought ashore. Then the strangers told the hunter to turn his back until they had gone a short distance away. When the man looked, all he saw were two large loons.