04/04/2026
Announcing Our 2026 Keynote Speaker!
Exciting news! At the 9th Annual Aurora Summit, we are proud to feature Keynote Speaker Joe Buffalo Child, also known as Joe Bailey, the original Aurora Hunter of Yellowknife! In November, we will welcome this Professional Aurora Hunter and Indigenous Aurora Tour Guide to the stage.
Joe’s connection to the land began on the traplines with his grandparents. Some of his earliest memories are of the aurora dancing above. “My grandmother taught us that when the lights are dancing and the solar wind is moving fast, it’s the spirit of someone who passed, reaching out—letting you know they are okay and reminding you to live a good life,” Joe says.
While beliefs vary among Inuit and First Nations groups, Joe views the lights as a message of goodwill from the ancestors. On his tours, he offers this deep cultural and spiritual context to his guests. He finds the greatest reward when visitors find personal healing or “genuine experiences” under the sky, noting that “that’s better than any tip.”
Joe is the CEO and principal owner of North Star Adventures, a tour company based out of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories of Canada. Founded in 2007, North Star Adventures was created by Joe and his family to showcase Dene culture while honoring his ancestors. Joe is known for his unique ability to find the northern lights even on cloudy nights—a skill he attributes to his grandfather’s lessons on reading the weather, clouds, and birds. “I watch the sky all day and instinctively I’ll know: Don’t go east. So we’ll go west,” he says.
Yellowknife is uniquely positioned directly under the auroral oval, in the dream location of the auroral zone. Because this region of Canada lacks oceans or mountains to trap cloud systems, the chance of getting a starry night to see the lights in this area is 98 percent. Joe’s tours go beyond simple viewing; he seeks out secluded spots away from other groups to provide a transcendent, solitary experience in the often frozen landscapes.
On top of small group tours, he also offers storytelling tours focused on legends and the cultural significance of the land and sky; indigenous-perspective city tours where guests can see Yellowknife’s history through the eyes of the Dene people; and buffalo viewing experiences, giving guests a chance to see the majestic Wood buffalo (or bison) in their natural habitat.
Joe Buffalo Child is known around the world for his successful Aurora Hunting tours, and the photographs that capture the otherworldly splendor of Yellowknife’s painted skies. In these reaches of far northern Canada, it’s not uncommon to see all-sky Aurora, neon Northern Lights, “cinnamon rolls” or swirls, and the “Holy Grail” of Aurora Chasing: the corona.
Get more Aurora Summit updates: TheAuroraSummit.com/updates
Learn more about North Star Adventures: https://northstaradventures.ca/
Photos courtesy of North Star Adventures.
