Skip to main content

Articles · Culture & heritage

Star Lore, Indigenous Astronomy and the History of the Night Sky (Page 2)

Sami aurora legends, Guanche star myths, Hawaiian wayfinding and Indigenous astronomy in Jasper, alongside eclipse chasers, dark-sky history and etiquette for sacred sites. It is for travelers who want the stories and the rules of a place before they look up.

Milky Way and star-filled sky over silhouetted mountain peaks in Jasper National Park's Dark Sky Preserve at night, the protected sky central to indigenous astronomy in Jasper

Indigenous Astronomy in Jasper: The Indigenous Skies Project

Maya Okonkwo 4 min read

Indigenous astronomy in Jasper starts near Calgary: the Rothney Observatory's Indigenous Skies program, Treaty 7 territory, and Jasper's own Dark Sky Preserve.

Read
A wood-fired Finnish sauna cabin beside a steaming ice hole in the snow with a faint green aurora glow above the treeline, illustrating the Lapland sauna ice swimming aurora ritual

Lapland's Sauna and Ice Swimming Aurora Ritual

Maya Okonkwo Updated 6 min read

Sauna then ice hole, then check the aurora forecast again: Lapland's oldest ritual doubles as the smartest way to wait out slow northern lights nights.

Read
T.E. Lawrence and Wadi Rum history: the Seven Pillars of Wisdom rock formation at the entrance to Wadi Rum, red sandstone massif in the Jordanian desert at dusk with early stars appearing above it

T.E. Lawrence & Wadi Rum: The Real Arab Revolt Story

Maya Okonkwo 5 min read

Wadi Rum's Seven Pillars rock was named in the 1980s in T.E. Lawrence's memory. Here's the real 1916-18 Arab Revolt and the Aqaba campaign behind the name.

Read
Green and violet aurora borealis rippling over a snow-covered pine forest in Finnish Lapland at night, evoking the Sami legends and Finnish revontulet fire-fox folklore of the northern lights, star-filled Arctic sky

Sami Legends of the Northern Lights: Revontulet & the Fire Fox

Maya Okonkwo Updated 5 min read

Finland's revontulet fire-fox legend and the Sami's own aurora traditions are two separate stories. Here's what each says, and how to visit both respectfully.

Read
Historic Métis homestead site along Snaring Road in Jasper National Park's Athabasca Valley, a landscape central to Jasper National Park indigenous history, mountains rising behind weathered log structures at dusk

Jasper National Park's Indigenous History: Removal and Return

Maya Okonkwo Updated 4 min read

Jasper National Park's Indigenous history: in 1907 the reserve was created on Stoney Nakoda and Métis land, and by 1910 families had been forcibly removed.

Read
Hawaiian star navigation and wayfinding scene: a double-hulled voyaging canoe Hōkūleʻa sailing beneath a dense star field over open Pacific water at night, sail silhouetted against the Milky Way

Hawaiian Star Navigation, Wayfinding, and Hōkūleʻa

Maya Okonkwo Updated 6 min read

How Native Hawaiian navigators read stars, swells, and birds to cross open ocean: the star compass, Papa Mau Piailug, and Hōkūleʻa's 1976 voyage to Tahiti.

Read
Photorealistic historic Arctic observatory building on a snowy mountainside above Tromsø, Norway, green aurora borealis curtains overhead, illustrating the history of Tromsø's northern lights observatory research

Tromsø's Northern Lights Observatory History and Aurora Science

Maya Okonkwo Updated 6 min read

Kristian Birkeland's terrella experiments to Leiv Harang's 1946 discovery: how a mountain observatory near Tromsø became the birthplace of aurora science.

Read
Joshua trees and boulder piles silhouetted against the Milky Way over the Mojave high desert near Joshua Tree, dense stars above a faint horizon glow, prime stargazing terrain

Joshua Tree Stargazing and Desert UFO Mythology

Maya Okonkwo Updated 6 min read

George Van Tassel said a Venusian visitor inspired his Integratron near Joshua Tree. The history, the doubts, and what those desert lights really are tonight.

Read
Night sky over the Canadian Rockies in Jasper National Park, the Dark-Sky Preserve whose history answers the question of why is Jasper called Jasper: the town and park were named after fur trader Jasper Hawes, who ran a North West Company post in the Athabasca Valley from 1815 to 1821

Why Is Jasper Called Jasper? The Fur-Trade Story

Maya Okonkwo Updated 10 min read

Jasper is named for Jasper Hawes, a fur trader who ran a North West Company post from 1815 to 1821. His name lives on in the town, park, and Dark-Sky Preserve.

Read