However, some Inuit believed that the lights were more sinister and if you whistled at them, they would come down and cut off your head. The Finnish have two myths. The Northern lights are undeniably beautiful, but not everyone saw something kind or benevolent in that beauty. According to the University of Central Lancashire (via The Telegraph), the Northern Lights were connected to the Cree's belief in the "circle of life." See more ideas about inuit art, art, northern lights. The first mention of the Northern Lights came in a text written in 1250 (via VAL), and that's well after the end of the Viking era. Indeed, the Finnish word for the Northern Lights “revontulet” translates literally as “fire fox”. Now, let's see what our friends up north thought about them. At a glance, the other name for the Northern Lights — the Aurora Borealis — sounds very ancient. We are in a world that spins in a … The first type of Inuit have mythology that is more similar to the Vikings but still live in the arctic circle, such as places like Finland, Norway, Iceland,and Greenland. Culturally Ours says that translates to the wonderfully descriptive "herring flash," and what does that mean? Polar lights (aurora polaris) are a natural phenomenon found in both the northern and southern hemispheres that can be truly awe inspiring. Translate a word of your choice into Canadian Inuit language. Visit the USA says those in Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, and other states along the border between America and Canada can sometimes catch a glimpse of them, and that explains why the Menominee — a tribe of Native peoples living in Wisconsin and along Green Bay — have developed their own folklore about the lights. It was more than just a reflection, too: when fishermen who were getting ready to go out onto the open water saw the Northern Lights before they departed, it meant that they were going to have extraordinarily good luck. Inuit people are strict followers of animism, which explains their love for spiritual names, such as Nuliajuk, which means a ‘woman with a fin, who is the leader of all the seals in the sea’, Ijiraq, which means ‘caribou like spirit’, and Nanurluk, which is the name of a mythical, large polar bear. They've lived there for thousands of years, and according to Britannica, they're currently settled mostly in the northernmost reaches of Scandinavia — which gives them a front-row seat to the Northern Lights. Blood was shed and ran from the sky, splashing across the stones of Scotland's mountains, which are still speckled and called bloodstones today. There are two Native American tribes who tell similar stories about the Northern Lights, and first, the Makah of the northwestern Pacific Coast. According to ThoughtCo., the term was only coined in 1619 — practically yesterday, in the grand scheme of the historical record. The Northern Lights aren't as common a sight in Scotland as they are in, say, Norway or Finland, but Nordic Visitor says that it is still possible to see them on occasion. The pod is painted with a scene from a Nunatsiavut myth about how the northern lights were created. If they are proper in their treatment of their kill, the animals will know it is okay to be killed by them. This really highlights the brilliant colours of the aurora. Aurora means “the dawn” in Greek and Borealis comes from the Greek god of the north wind, Boreais. It is said that red northern lights appear over England just before the French Revolution started and before a Gallic uprising. She searched the battlefield and found the prince of the White — who she had agreed to marry — among the dead. The Inuit attached spiritual significance to the lights, believing them to represent the souls of their unborn children or the torches of long-departed ancestors. The men of one clan were identified by their pure white clothes and the men of another wore only yellow, while the ladies of both clans dressed in a myriad of red, green, purple, and white. The Inuit believed the lights to be the spirits of the departed, playing a game similar to lacrosse, using a walrus skull for a ball. The Algonquin, Britannica explains, are a group of closely-related bands that originally lived in the deep forests of Canada. For instance, the name “Hulk”, a famous comic book character known for superhuman strength, is a cool name choice for your Northern Inuit. When they ran, they left a trail of shimmering sparks behind them: not only did the sparkles from their tails light up the night sky, but it was also said that if you were lucky enough to catch one, you'd never have to worry about money troubles again. The spirits already there — along with the Raven — light torches to guide new spirits home. It is perhaps one of nature™s most fascinating displays of According to Bivrost, Menominee legend says the lights are actually the glow from the torches carried by members of a race of giants called the Manabai'wok. With such a dominating look, it would be apt to give it a name that signifies strength and might. We didn't know that hundreds of years ago, though, so our ancestors made up their own stories about what they were seeing. Inuits in Russia haven’t been bothered much. EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska -- The Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, shines above Bear Lake here January 18, 2005. When the lights start appearing in the night sky, the Finns have a different word for them: revontulet, which translates to "fox fires.". A yellow light is caused by low altitude oxygen and a red light is caused by oxygen reacting at  a higher altitude. On the tiny island of Nivuk, near Alaska, they believed the opposite. Guests on this unique journey will experience the splendor of the Northern Lights, exhilarating winter outdoor activities and gain a rich understanding and appreciation of the Inuit and Metis way of life. The Northern Lights, also known as the Aurora Borealis, were considered sacred by many native tribes. They told a slightly different — and much darker version of the tale. The northern lights, one of several astronomical phenomena called polar lights (aurora polaris), are shafts or curtains of colored light visible on occasion in the night sky. These are the people that are more often referred to as Eskimo.The second type, which is formerly known as “Inuit people” based on the language they speak, even though there are differences between tribes: some are located in Siberia, others in Russia’s Arctic Circle, Alaska, and the top half of Canada. In Iceland, it was believed that the lights would relieve pain in Childbirth, as long as the mother didn’t look at them. Because Greenland is literally covered with a sheet of ice, the Inuit settled around the coastal areas so they could hunt and fish. Today, its otherworldly dance attracts photographers and bucket list travellers from around the world; whereas years ago, much before our time, the northern lights attracted creative minds looking for answers to explain the night sky phenomenon. Northern lights The WAG's Qaumajuq Inuit art centre brings warm glow of appreciation, connection, collaboration and reconciliation to Winnipeg ... is just one of the names given to the Inuit … 2:21. They described him as embodying life, renewal, and as a creator figure, birthed by a great primal being, who became the friend and caretaker of the human race and showed them the art of making things like fire and weapons. Many of their communities are above the Arctic Circle, which means that in the middle of winter, they would experience 24 hours of darkness. Another Alaskan myth is that the lights were the torches of those who were trying to find the path to a better home for souls. I hope you have enjoyed this educational lesson on Inuit beliefs and all of the fun ideas about the northern lights. Native American Northern Lights Gods and Spirits Our ancestors definitely did, and when they took notice of the natural miracles they were surrounded by, they did something we've lost the art of. Northern Lights: Inuit Textile Art from the Canadian Arctic Firefox isn't just an internet browser, it was a mythical creature first — and according to Visit Finland, it's this northern country that can lay claim to the legend of the firefox. When their dogs barked at the lights, it meant that they recognized the soul of a long-lost companion. Eskimo story of The Northern Lights An Eskimo Legend. Often on a clear, dark night in the boreal forest, green, purple, pink, and white lights dance on the horizon changing their shape and color. Then, there are the stories told by the Mandan. They're a spectacular display of color that dances across the night sky at certain times, kind of like Mother Nature's own Pink Floyd laser light show. The Inuit and northern Algonquian tribes believed that the spirits of the dead could be seen in the Northern Lights. See the Northern Lights in Nunavut. It is often said that the Inuit have dozens of words to refer to snow and ice.Anthropologist John Steckley, in his book White Lies about the Inuit (2007), notes that many often cite 52 as the number of different terms in Inuktitut.This belief in a high number of words for snow and ice has been sharply criticized by a large number of linguists and anthropologists. They can take the form of an arch which can be as long as 1000 kilometers, a strip, a curtain, a veil, a wreath, or a pillar with rays extending up to a hundred kilometers. In the most northern tribes, they believed the lights were dead spirits mostly of children who were playing with the skull of a walrus like a ball. The Eskimos who lived on the lower Yukon River believed that the aurora was the dance of animal spirits, especially those of … The long-held belief is still repeated today, and along with that comes a reverence for the lights. name of a river beaver name of a mountain range name of a mountain range raven ice heart (F) coal. Once they were there, they could occasionally decide to reach out to contact those they had left behind by leaving their otherworldly dwellings and taking on the form of the Northern Lights. In the most northern village of Alaska, Point Barrow, the Inuits believe that the lights are a symbol of evil and carry knives around during that time for protection. Sten Odenwald, author of The 23rd Cycle: learning to live with a stormy star(New York, … It is a complex, and often stereotyped culture, located in the northern hemisphere. It's all around us: from rainbows, clouds, and pure white snow to coral reefs, blue whales, and raging volcanos. What is Inuit culture? That marriage produced a daughter, the powerful half-god Nelvana. November 2019 Now, we know the colors of the Northern Lights originate on the surface of the sun. While it's true that the world is a scary, sometimes awful place filled with all kinds of terrifying things, it's also a place where there's unimaginable beauty to be found. Northern lights are also called by their scientific name, aurora borealis, and southern lights are called aurora australis. This one gets a little tricky, because not only are there a couple of stories attributed to the Viking beliefs about the Northern Lights, it's also argued by some scholars that these are completely modern inventions. "Aurora" was the name of the Roman's goddess of the dawn, and "borealis" comes from the name of the god of the north wind, Boreas. In one story, a man marries a fox women, but she leaves after he insults her musky fox smell, reinforcing the idea that divorce and gender roles were not as clearly defined as other cultures. The Northern Lights appear much more often during the cold winter months, and that starts at the end of August. There were many different myths to explain their origins. In other versions, Hurtigruten claims that the Nothern Lights were actually the Bifrost Bridge, a very literal bridge that the souls of the fallen crossed in order to reach Valhalla. In the 1920s, the Danish explorer Knud Rasmussen recorded another story, told by the people he met on the island of Iglooik. It's a bit of a cautionary tale with a happy ending. The lights were the children of Beira, Queen of Winter. October 2019 Call them the Northern Lights or the Aurora Borealis, and you're talking about the same thing. Churchill Manitoba is located directly below the Auroral Oval making it one of the best places on Earth to see the Northern Lights. Their homeland is called Nunangat, and refers to all parts — water, ice, and land — in the Arctic. In Greenland they believed that the lights represented the souls of stillborn children. They made up stories to explain what they were seeing. Even though they no longer do, they're still revered as great fishermen and hunters. In the Northern United States, the Mandan people, not quite Inuit, believed that they were the fires of dwarves cooking walrus fat … Whenever the men go out hunting, they must make proper amends to the creatures they kill, otherwise the overlord of a species (careful to not call this a god) will alert all of the other animals of the species that this hunter is not deserving of their life. The Swedish believe the myth to be a good omen towards fishermen, and those who believed in Norse Mythology thought that the lights were a reflection of the shields of Valkyrie, female warriors who escorted those valiant in battle to Valhalla. The Inuit people may not have influenced us much yet, but they impact the lives of Americans in Alaska, our counterparts in Canada, and those working in Arctic research stations to send you all those cute photos of Polar bears! He went to his permanent home in the North, but before he left, he promised that he would always watch over his children. Some became trapped in the ice and struggled to free themselves. It was the Canadian Algonquin who told of the Northern Lights as a reminder that they weren't alone. All we need to do is stop, take a deep breath, and look around. According to Danish folklore (via Hurtigruten), a group of swans decided to have a competition. And as for the maiden and her suitors? Isn’t that cute? Every northern culture had legends about the auroras, often associating them with life after death. The winner was the swan who flew the farthest north, but some of the swans flew so far into the cold and the snow that their wings began to freeze. Things like amulets, are used for this. They weren't just any cooking fires, though, they were the fires of a race of dwarves who lit fires in order to boil the blubber of the whales they hunted. Northern Lights: Inuit Textile Art from the Canadian Arctic [Fernstrom, Katharine W., Jones, Anita E., Baltimore Museum of Art, Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Winnipeg Art Gallery] on Amazon.com. The Spirit of the Dead. They suffered greatly during outbreaks of smallpox, Britannica says, and both groups — the Great Plains Cree and the Woodland Cree, called Swampy or Maskegon Cree — told incredible stories about the world around them. Greek or Roman, perhaps? It's entirely possible that these "ancient" stories are simply modern interpretations. https://www.grunge.com/267434/the-mythology-of-the-northern-lights-explained January 2020 The lights are the result of solar particles colliding with gases in … Few cultures would experience the Northern Lights as consistently as the Inuit. When the lights would appear in the sky, it was said that the Valkyries were riding out to retrieve those fallen souls, and the bright colors were reflections off their arms and armor. When there's a massive display of lights, the Sami will do their best to remain inside out of respect for the souls they believe to be in the sky above them, and they absolutely will not whistle. The Salteaus Indians of eastern Canada and the Kwakiutl and Tlingit of Southeastern Alaska interpreted the northern lights as the dancing of human spirits. There were different parts of the afterlife for those who died in different ways, and the highest was the Aurora. August 2019 Depending on the solar activity cycle, the aurora borealis come in many forms. mso-font-width:100%; Northern Lights and the Midnight Sun. And we've been creating mythology about them for even longer — it's believed that some cave paintings depict the appearance of the Northern Lights, and here's one more fun fact: the Dene people have long said that the Northern Lights are responsible for giving birth to reindeer. Tying it all Together: Myths about the Northern Lights! In Southern Europe, the lights were uncommon and viewed as a bad omen. North America: many different people occupied North America and there are a wide variety of beliefs regarding the Northern Lights. In the most northern village of Alaska, Point Barrow, the Inuits believe that the lights are a symbol of evil and carry knives around during that time for protection. Because of the way they died, they were thought to get lonely, and anyone who looked up at them for too long risked getting their attention. There are different stories depending on which Inuit group we're talking about but it always is about the spirit of the dead. Another Norse idea was that the lights were the “Bifrost Bridge,” which was considered the rainbow pathway to gain access to Asgard, the realm of the Goads (gods) and guarded by Bifrost. As a reminder that he was still there, and still looking over them, he would occasionally light flares in the skies over his home. Essentially, the Inuits believe that every animal has a soul and that all souls belong to one large energy force. The earliest written reference is from the rule of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II, and it's a little unique in that we know exactly what day we're talking about there — the evening of a date that corresponds to the night of March 12/13, 567 BCE in our modern calendar. 02/10/2019, 13:34 Despite we were not the luckiest with the northern lights, we still could see them behind the clouds, and before the tour, we had a delicious greenlandic coffee, while the guides were telling some stories about the town, the Inuit culture and the research station. If she did look, the child would be born cross eyed. The northern lights are natural phenomena that occur in nature. April 2018 That wasn't always a good thing: those spirits were thought to appear when war or conflict was on the horizon, and so the lights became a sign of hardship looming in the future. They taught that those who have passed on aren't gone completely, and continue to watch over their loved ones who remain in the land of the living. Indigenous Greenlanders believed that the lights were dancing spirits of children who had died at birth. April 2019 Edward S. Curtis [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons Surviving in such a harsh environment required a strong sense of family and community. The date was mentioned in the report of a royal astronomer. [55] By the mid-1960s, encouraged first by missionaries, then by the prospect of paid jobs and government services, and finally forced by hunger and required by police, most Canadian Inuit lived year-round in permanent settlements. In China, the lights were viewed as being a battle between the gods and dragons. It was said that when their warriors died in battle, their spirits left their bodies and crossed to the afterlife — Kee-wa-kow-anne, or "the above people's country" — by making their way across a rainbow. Gabriela Zendejas Maldonado Amazing! Spirits are always looking for ways to communicate with those left behind, and the lights are one of these communications — one that went both ways. The Sami are a group of people who live in Lapland and the neighboring countries of Finland, Sweden, and Norway. October 2018 Mar 24, 2021 - Explore Tonya Loyd's board "Inuit Art/Northern Lights", followed by 573 people on Pinterest. According to The Aurora Zone, they told the tale that the Northern Lights were the lights from cooking fires. Thanks to our crystal-clear skies, we’re the best place on Earth to behold this magical phenomenon. Better understanding the world as the Inuit settled around the coastal areas so they hunt. Myths about the spirit of the North wind, Boreais those in Alaska and Canada are believed to killed! And look around and all of the tale that the lights were breath... S define what exactly the Northern lights are in a world that spins in …. 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