The Night is not experienced the same way in different parts of the world. As we get closer from the poles, the Night is less lived in a daily rhythm and more so in a seasonal one, alternating between periods of ‘daylessness’ and ‘nightlessness.’ In this personal text, Krista Ulujuk Zawadski shares with us the ways through which children and adults live through the long winter night (its constellations, its northern lights, its mythology…) in Inuit country.
As long as I can remember, my cousins and I were always outside. We were outside as much as we could, whether it was of our own volition, or because our parents insisted we get out of the house. This was a common thread; it seemed like parents were always wanting their kids to be outside. My childhood memories consist of bright summer days, filled with care-free-filled days of outdoor fun. There are also countless memories of dark wintery nights. There doesn’t seem to be a middle ground in my memories; they are either bright or dark, as though the twilight of my childhood memories does not exist. This is strange to me, on recollection, because our days are filled with long periods of twilight during the night season. However, it doesn’t surprise me that such a juxtaposition exists in my memories, those of bright summers and dark winters, since that is exactly how our lives are. The closer you are to the poles, the larger the variances in light and dark in your days.
In Kangirłiniq, where I grew up and live today – a mere 500 km south of the Arctic Circle – the sun sets and rises throughout the year. However, places above the Circle, there are periods of absolute darkness alternating with 24-hour daylight ones. In this sense, there are seasons of night and seasons of nightlessness. This means people have to navigate at night to travel in the winter months, and why constellation knowledge is important. The moon illuminates the landscape, often creating beautiful shadows that can be menacing at the same time.