Whatever you do, don’t whistle at the Aurora.
When he was just a child, growing up on the vast and virtually untouched Mackenzie Delta in the NWT, Gerry Kisoun’s parents warned him not to play with the swirling lights overhead. And especially don’t whistle at them. Otherwise the lights would swoop down, cut off your head and play football with it.
“We remembered that as small children and into our teenage years,” says Kisoun, who is a guide with Tundra North Tours and an Elder of Inuvialuit and Gwich’in descent. “The Aurora would just be bouncing around. We’d whistle and it would start to come down and we’d run home.”
Above they swirl like magical ribbons of colour from another world. A tapestry of purples, greens and reds shimmering across the dark sky — the spectacular Northern Lights. Looking up at these electric giants is like staring into a dream. It’s easy to see stories, even whole worlds in their vibrant dance. Indigenous peoples have been inspired by this cosmic play for thousands of years.
