Not far from the Canadian town of Osoyus, there is a unique reservoir - Lake Kliluk or, as it is popularly called, Spotted Lake, which is considered to be the richest in minerals. It has 365 "circles" of various sizes and depths, as if for every day of the year - in a circle.
Legends and features of the sacred lake
This striking body of water gets its name from the indigenous Kliluk people who live in the beautiful Okanagan Valley and consider the lake to be healing and sacred. Representatives of the Kliluk have been coming here for centuries to receive healing from their ailments. This is evidenced by the ceremonial stone piles that can be seen on the shores of Spotted Lake. One of the local legends says that once a battle took place between two tribes in these places, and the warring parties declared a truce so that their wounded could be healed in the miraculous water of the lake. But as soon as they did this, the feud ended …
During the summer heat, most of the lake water evaporates and accumulations of minerals are especially visible. They have the form of spots - different in color, which is due to the different mineral composition. Most of the spots are magnesium sulfate - the so-called. "Epsom salt". It is said to have the highest natural concentration of this mineral on the planet. The content of sodium and calcium sulfate is also high.
In the driest periods, Kliluk remains completely without water, and then you can walk between the spots on foot, but this is strictly prohibited. True, animals come to the lake anyway, but it's not clear why? Do not drink water …
As for winter, even under the ice and snow you can see on it a kind of "dimples" from the usual circles.
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The fight for the lake
For a long time, the sacred Indian lake belonged to the whites, and this is despite the fact that the "first peoples" constantly sought to retain the right of ownership of this land and water. The struggle for this ownership intensified especially after 1979, when the then owner of Kliluka, Ernest Smith, decided to open a unique SPA resort on its shores to improve the health of everyone who had money for this.
Canadian Indians have fought against this event for two decades, rightly believing that the lake belongs to them, and white people do not have the right to arrange all kinds of entertainment and tourism centers on the sacred land.
This struggle ended with the victory of the "first people", in 2001 Smith agreed to sell the lake to the Indians for 720 thousand US dollars. The deal took place, and now Kliluk belongs to the indigenous population of this region.
Today Spotted Lake is under the protection of both the Canadian Indians themselves and the state. At the moment it is fenced off, although everything goes to the fact that soon an observation deck will be arranged here for tourists who want to admire this incomparable, some kind of fantastic beauty, without violating not only the delicate natural balance, but also the "wise sleep" of sacred stones the Okanagan people …
Daniil Myslinsky