do go after it, something strange will happen to you.”
Our hero soon shot an arrow at a squirrel in the
branches of a red spruce tree. Forgetting the advice
of Great Chief Nesnabi, Caribou-footed climbed the
tree to fetch the arrow that had missed the squirrel.
As he climbed higher and higher up the red spruce
he entered the Sky Country. All he could see was
a great white mass of shining snow; no people or
animals were to be found. He soon discovered that
the Sky Country was barren because Hatempka, the
Chief of the Sky Country, had lost his medicine belt,
which was his great power. Caribou-footed accepted
the challenge to retrieve the medicine belt in hopes
to bring back life and happiness to the Sky Country,
and to win the hand of Hatempka’s daughter. Against
all odds he retrieved the medicine belt and saved the
people of the Sky Country. Caribou-footed stayed
in the country and later on in life, when Hatempka
was gone, he became the chief of Sky Country. The
legend concludes that wh en the northern lights are
visible in the sky, in the far North Country, “the
fingers of Caribou-footed are beckoning us to the
home beyond the sky. Soon some of us will pass to
that great country where he has found a home for
us, far, far away.”
In these instances native groups have intertwined the mysteries of the northern lights with the
unknown of the afterlife. Similarly, Alaskans believed
that the spirits of the dead were watching over them
and sending them messages, attempting to communicate with them. They called them ‘sky dwellers’ and
thought they were their deceased relatives.
Europe
HIDEYUKI KAMON
People enjoying the northern lights in the Northwest Territories, Canada
who reside in the Northwest Territories of Canada,
tell a tale about the origins of the northern lights.
A summary of the story is below.
Dogrib Tale of the Northern Lights
Caribou-footed was a young man who had endured
many hardships in his life and travelled far. He travelled
northward along the Yukon River and encountered
a Great Chief named Nesnabi, who gave him shelter.
One day, Caribou-footed decided to venture out into
the world. Nesnabi wished him well and provided him
with seven arrows and the following advice: “These are
enough to help you. But if you should shoot a bird or
animal in a spruce tree, and if the arrow should stick to
the branches, take care that you do not go after it. If you
42
Many Northern European myths about the northern
lights feature animals or the belief that the northern
lights are omens that can determine the future. Each
culture holds different beliefs about what causes the
northern lights and the stories showcase the diversity
of their respective cultures. In Sweden, people thought
the lights were dancers dancing happily in the sky.
Many believed the lights were dancing a polka, a wellknown folk dance. Likewise, the Sami once believed
that the lights in the sky were the souls of their ancestors dancing in the sky, perhaps to a polka.
The Finnish name for the northern lights is
revontulet, which is associated with the Arctic Fox.
Finnish people thought that foxes with sparkling fur
were running over the mountains of Lapland (the
land north of the Arctic Circle), and that their fur
touching the mountains created sparks that flew
up into the sky. These lights were referred to as ‘fox
fires’ at times. Another version of the story says that
the lights are caused by moonlight reflecting off the