For centuries, humans have sought to explain the colorful northern lights and find meaning in them.

My favorite legend was about the aurora borealis.

There are many legends about the northern lights, Allen explained.

Aurora Borealis over Kluane Lake in the eponym National Park of the Yukon

Credit:Luis F Arevalo/Getty Images

Our story is that the northern lights are a message from ancestors who have passed on.

They dance in the Spirit World to let us know they are happy there.

I was still thinking about the Southern Tutchone northern lights legend long after the storytelling session ended.

Aurora borealis above village on shoreline of Great Slave Lake, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada.

:Jiri Hermann/Stocktrek Images/Getty Images

I liked the idea that this mesmerizing natural phenomenon had a deeper meaning.

I hoped they were dancing.

But centuries ago, people didnt have the knowledge and tools needed to understand this phenomenon.

The aurora borealis is a natural light display in the sky particularly in the high latitude of the Arctic regions, caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere (thermosphere). Major solar flare causing great Aurora borealis over Kluane National Park, Yukon, Canada. Rare red aurora.

Gerald Corsi/Getty Images

In almost every ancient culture in this region of the world, legends were created to explain the unexplainable.

As children, we would whistle at the northern lights to make them move, she said.

Even today when I whistle at the northern lights, I can see them move.

In some cultures, they think its bad to whistle at an aurora, though.

If we did, they told us the northern lights would come to get us and take us away.

Of course, we tried to whistle at the northern lights all the time.

Each distinct nation has its own legends.

Some northern lights legends are similar between Indigenous groups, while others are very different.

Drygeese shares these legends and other cultural experiences with guests ofB.

Dene Adventures, the tour company he owns and operates just outside ofYellowknife in Canadas Northwest Territories.

The boy used the northern lights to travel the vast lands to where people were sick and helped them.

When it became cloudy, he was trapped on the other side of the Great Slave Lake.

When the aurora borealis started shining again, he traveled home and explained where he had been.

His parents realized he was a gifted healer.

When people see the northern lights, its a good thing, Drygeese said.

It means you’re able to expect the unexpected.

Each group has its own myths and legends.