In most places, you’ll see the Inuktitut term aqsarniit defined as Northern Lights—but that’s just what it refers to, not a translation of the term itself.
Aqsarniit roughly translates to “soccer trails” though strictly speaking, the root aqsaq means “play ball.”
The Inuit used to play a game that resembled soccer, kicking around balls made of stuffed caribou hide. As legend goes, the souls of the dead played it too, chasing a frozen, chattering walrus head through the sky, leaving trails of light in their wake: The Northern Lights.
