How Indigenous traditional knowledge is improving our understanding of aurora borealis

Unreserved49:23Northern lights are our night sky guides

When Nicholas Flowers was young, he made sure to never whistle at the northern lights. 

It was disrespectful, his grandmother taught him. "She told me, if you whistle at the northern lights, they may actually harm you by cutting off your head," he told Unreserved host Rosanna Deerchild.

It's advice that Flowers, who teaches the Inuktitut language and Inuit culture in Nunatsiavut, N.L., still follows today. "Learning about these traditions in our culture plays a big role in our survival, and also in our well-being. As Inuit we need to remember that we simply couldn't exist without the land."

While modern science explains the mechanism of the aurora borealis, members of First Nation, Inuit and Métis communities say that their traditional knowledge, which goes back thousands of years, can help explain its meaning — in mythology, legend and even weather forecasting. 

The two ways of knowing can be complementary, said Jennifer Howse, an education specialist at the Rothney Astrophysical Observatory, just north of Calgary. Howse is also a member of the Métis Nation of Alberta.

It all starts with the sun

Auroras are caused when charged particles that are released from the sun get trapped in the polar areas of the Earth's magnetic field. These interact with the Earth's magnetic field, creating the northern lights.

The amount of charged particles the sun releases varies on an 11-year cycle, and we're currently at the busiest time of the cycle, Howse said.

The varying colours of the lights relate to what gases in the atmosphere are being affected: green is oxygen, red is upper-atmosphere nitrogen. "It's essentially showing us our atmosphere with these colours," she said.

Intermediate colours, like purple, magenta and even blue, result from different gases reacting. "These gases are coming together, almost like when you're mixing paint colours," Howse said.

Howse said that although newer technologies are teaching scientists about auroras, there are still many mysteries, which can be addressed by Indigenous stories.

"Northern Canadians have so much mythology around the aurora. If you listen to the stories, you'll hear all of the science, and all of the observations," she said. 

The First Nation science involves understanding the timing of the lights, their colours, how they move, and how those movements might impact weather, for example. "[The stories] use a lot of wonderful metaphors of things that we understand in our relations with ourselves and with the natural world," Howse said.

She compared Indigenous stories to ancient Greek maps of the sky, "that tell you about the sky, of course, but it also tells you about that ancient Greek astronomer and their perception of the sky overhead."

Auroras in Indigenous teachings

It would be difficult to find anyone who gets more excited about the northern lights than Joe Buffalo Child.

And that's even after 18 years of taking tourists out around Yellowknife to see the aurora borealis and talk about Dene culture.  

"I get to see it every night, and people always say to me, 'Joe, don't you get tired of it'? And I say, 'No. Take a look. How can you get tired of that?'" he said.

"It's a connection between my culture and my grandparents, so it has a very special meaning for me."

Buffalo Child was raised by his grandparents, who have since died. His grandmother taught him that when the aurora are dancing quickly, it's a message from someone recently departed.

"Someone from the other side is sending a message.… 'I'm doing OK, no need to be sad anymore,'" he said.

Buffalo Child believes Yellowknife is the best place in the world to see the aurora borealis. The lights appear directly above, and are often visible for four hours or more, almost every night in winter.

"We often call it the sore neck aurora," he joked.

Like Buffalo Child, Flowers was also taught that the dancing lights show the continuing presence of those who've passed away.

He also believes that the legend of the lights decapitating those who whistle at them is to demonstrate the importance of having respect for the land and for nature. 

But auroras also offer less morbid warnings, too.

The way the lights behave can also help predict the weather, Flowers said. For example, if they are still, it suggests the following day would have fair weather and light winds — perfect hunting conditions.

However, if they are dipping and diving and moving quickly, the forthcoming weather will not be as ideal, he said.

Howse said it's been wonderful to see how Indigenous traditional knowledge has blended with science to form a more complete picture of the aurora.

"This has just been such a really wonderful time to be Métis. I mean, imagine that I'm able to say that out loud!"