Ancestors dancing in the Northern Lights

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:01]The Sami people. They are one of Europe's indigenous groups inhabiting Sapmi, a region stretching across northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia's Kola Peninsula. With history dating back more than 4,000 years, they are traditionally reindeer herders, fishermen, and hunters who survived by reading the sky. Now, on a recent trip to the Arctic, I spoke with a shaman named Ronald who explained. You're getting lost in the forest or in the nature and it's you can see the stars.

[00:00:28]Then you know where the northern north is because you know this special star.

[00:00:33]To the Sami, [music] the stars aren't just distant lights. It's called the nail of the north. It's their anchor for the entire world. In their culture, you don't use [music] a clock to tell time.

[00:00:42]You use the relationship between the earth and the sky. It's also the connection they have to their ancestors and that connection >> [music] >> is happening now and it's in the form of northern lights. [music] Get it? The people who died are dancing right above them every night in real time. You don't whistle at the northern [music] lights because you're not looking at a light show. You respect the northern lights because you're looking at a layer of reality where the dead >> [music] >> are still alive.