Aurora Borealis (Wąkwoešgac)

by Richard L. Dieterle

The Aurora Gallery of Christopher J. VenHaus

The Aurora Borealis (or Northern Lights) can be seen from Wisconsin, and as the inset shows, they can be quite striking. The Hocąk term for the Aurora is wąkwoešgac, which is said by several scholars to mean, "man's play" or "play above."¹ This suggests that the phenomenon is explained as the play of a certain spirit being. Some confirm this by saying that the aurora is an evil spirit that may bring death upon human beings.² The term wąkwoešgac, however, must have a more complex meaning. The word wąk is irreducably ambiguous, meaning either "man" or "above." The ultimate syllable, šgac, clearly means "to play." The middle syllables appear to be the stem e prefixed by wo-. The prefix wo- is a contraction of wa-ho-. The word ho-e (or ho'e) means, "to scatter about," and prefixed by wa- (wa-ho-e), it means, "to scatter it about." So wąkwoešgac should mean, "he plays, scattering it about up above," or "man scattering it about in play." This suggests that a single spirit, for artistic entertainment, paints the sky with tones of possible ill omen.

On the other hand, Jacob Strucki, a long time missionary among the Hocągara, says, "From the Northern Lights they infer that there are spirits in the north that find themselves in combat."³ Thus the "play" to which the word makes reference may be a metaphor. We find the expression, hąké wošgác winią́je, which is given the meaning, "don't mutilate (play) more than you have to."⁴ It is possible that the šgac ("play") in wąkwoešgac refers to spirits mutilating one another. We find this same use of šgac when enemy captives are said,"to play with fire" (pec-ki-šgac), when they are put to the torture. It is said that in the past as the Night Spirits crossed the sky bringing darkness, that they were attacked by the cranes, who cut their faces with their sharp bills. Perhaps this is the battle to which the tradition passed down through Strucki makes reference. (For the mutiliation of the Night Spirits, see How the Thunders Met the Nights).

Links: The Meteor Spirit, Nightspirits.

Stories: about stars and other celestial bodies: The Dipper, Įcorúšika and His Brothers, The Seven Maidens, Morning Star and His Friend, Little Human Head, Turtle and the Witches, Sky Man, Wojijé, The Raccoon Coat, Sun and the Big Eater, The Big Eater, The Star Husband, Grandfather's Two Families, Bluehorn's Nephews, The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head, The Meteor Spirit and the Origin of Wampum, The Children of the Sun, Heną́ga and Star Girl, The Origins of the Milky Way, The Fall of the Stars.

Notes