Kanesatake treated to natural light show
Those lucky enough to be looking up at the sky Monday night were treated to a sight they won’t soon forget.
The striking colours of the Northern Lights, also known as aurora borealis, were visible in Kanesatake around 10:30 p.m. that evening. It’s rare to see them stray so far south, but a period of peaking solar storms has meant the natural phenomenon is a little more common than usual.
“I was just closing the blinds and saw that the sky looked a bit different,” said Raiden David, one of the lucky few. “Once I went out to take a photo, I was very shocked but amazed that it was the Northern Lights. I haven’t seen them here in about 10 or so years, and it was a stunning thing to see again.”
While David got to enjoy an experience he will not soon forget, his mother was not so fortunate.
“I was snug as a bug in a rug asleep in bed,” said David’s mother, Myrna Gabriel.
“I told him he was lucky to see that. It’s almost become a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. There is a spiritual significance to the Northern Lights.”
David wasn’t the only Kanehsata’kehró:non who had already seen the aurora borealis before, however. Jacob Kanawaién:ton Cree also saw the lights again when they appeared above him this week.
“I was just outside enjoying the evening and love watching the night sky,” Cree said. “I just thought it was a very cool phenomenon.”
Al Harrington caught the display while he was doing a night shift.
“It was pretty cool,” Harrington said. “If you’re up outside checking the stars, if you’re in bed, you’ll miss it.”
