A long time ago Mi'gmaq used to live near the riverbanks in the summertime and they could watch all the salmon going up the river to spawn. One day they noticed the salmon could not get up the river anymore.

Now in those days the beaver were very, very big. And they had built a dam across the Restigouche River. That is why the salmon could not get up the river to spawn.

Mi'gmaq were very upset. They knew if the salmon could not get up the river to have their babies, there would be no more salmon and they would have no food in the winter.

So, they held a council with all the people. They decided they would go out in their canoes to fight the beaver.

The men went out in their canoes but when they got close to the beavers, they would slap their huge tails on the water and the canoes, and Mi'gmaq went flying up into the air and fell into the water. They could not get past the beavers so they could destroy the dam. The beavers were just too big.

So, they swam ashore, and they decided to call Glusgap. Glusgap's messenger at that time was Loon. They asked Loon to call him.

Loon made his wailing sound and called Glusgap. It was carried across the water to Glusgap and he soon came riding on the back of his whale to the Mi'gmaq camp.

He asked, "Why did you call me?"

They told him that the beavers had made a dam and the salmon could no longer get up the river to spawn. They said they would not have any more salmon to eat if the salmon couldn’t get up the river because then they would not be able to have babies.

So, Glusgap walked on the dam and when he got to the middle, he took his club and hit the dam. When he hit the dam parts of it flew. One of these parts became Heron Island. Another part is called Bantry point.

Glusgap caught the leader of the beavers and swung him around and around by his tail. When Glusgap let go the beaver landed many miles away and turned to rock. They call it Sugarloaf Mountain today. That is really Glusgap's beaver.

Glusgap then turned to the other beavers. They were afraid so he stroked their heads and with each stroke they became smaller and smaller until they reached the size they are today.

Glusgap promised Mi'gmaq that the beavers in Gespe’gewagi would never grow big enough again to be able to build a dam that could cut off the rivers so the salmon could not get through. They would never have to worry about that problem ever again.