Member-only story
The Beauty of the Northern Lights
Traditional Indigenous Beliefs
There is an old belief among various Indigenous nations, including mine, that we shouldn’t pay any attention to the northern lights when they appear. Depending on who you talk to, this varies from making a sound such as a whistle or singing while observing them to never looking at them at all.
When I first heard of the northern lights I asked what they were. My parents told us that when they appeared it was caused by our ancestors dancing in the sky and the lights revealed their happiness. As a child that made me very happy too.
When I think back on it my parents did not say “Don’t look at them”. They allowed us to walk outside with them to see for ourselves and identify what they were.
They did not allow us to stay outside and stare for any length of time and when my hand rose to point at a particular movement my father grabbed my hand and steered me back inside. I remember a sound and when I asked what it was my mother said, “The ice at the North Pole is cracking”, which is hilarious to me now.
