Dawn of the north - northern lights from my front yard

I grew up in Yukon Territory. Indigenous peoples there would tell us stories when we were kids.

We were told many stories of the lights. From giants, to sled dogs on their way to help sick children.

In Alaska, some Inuit groups saw the lights as the spirits of the animals they had hunted, namely beluga whales, seals, salmon and deer.

For Wisconsin’s Fox Native Americans, the aurora gave them a sense of foreboding—representing their slain enemies preparing for revenge.

Indigenous Greenlanders believed that the lights were dancing spirits of children who had died at birth.

When they witnessed the lights, many Inuit, the Arctic’s indigenous peoples, believed they were spirits of the dead playing a game with a walrus skull as the “ball.” The Inuit of Nunivak Island in the Bering Sea flipped its take on this story believing that it was walrus spirits playing with a human skull. This is one of the many stories I was told as a child about the lights.

In Norse mythology, the lights were the spears, armor and helmets of the warrior women known as the Valkyries. They rode on horseback, leading fallen soldiers to their final resting place at Valhalla.

The Inuit of Hudson Bay dreaded the lights, believing they were the lanterns of demons pursuing lost souls.

In Finland, a mystical fox was thought to have created the aurora, its bushy tail spraying snow and throwing sparks into the sky.

Some Algonquin peoples believed their cultural hero, Nanahbozho, relocated to the far north after he finished creating the Earth. He lit large fires, which reflected back to his people in the form of the northern lights. This let them know he was thinking of them, even though they were far apart.

In perhaps the best oxymoron in British folklore, Scottish legend refers to the lights as “Merry Dancers” engaged in bloody battle.

Native Americans of the Great Plains thought the light display came from northern tribes who were cooking their dead enemies in huge pots over blazing fires.

If you whistled at the aurora, some Native Americans believed it would sweep down and take you away. Clapping your hands, however, caused the lights to retreat, keeping you safe. Meanwhile, in northern Scandinavia, the Sami people hid indoors during the light show.

Ginger tax!! Mommas new puppebt! Thanks for reading this post!! Credit for the details about this post to https://www.nathab.com/articles/alaska-and-northern/churchill-northern-lights/native-tales/