no ground wire in ceiling light fixture junction box

I just moved into a new home and am trying to replace the light fixture in the kitchen. When I removed the exsisting light fixture it had a bare copper ground wire that was running from inside the center post of the light fixture to the grounding nut attached to the metal strap in the metal junction box.

I removed all the wires black, white, and ground (I shut the circuit off and triple checked that the electricity was off before I removed anything). after I disconnected everything I noticed there is no green or bare copper wire coming out of the junction box.

When I opened the new light fixture and read the instructions it states to attached th supplied metal strap to the junction box. The metal strap has a grounding nut and bare copper wire attached to it. The instructions say to attached the bare copper wire from the metal strap to the green or bare copper wire coming from the junction box -- The issue is that there is no grounding wire in the junction box.

What do I do now? Can I attach the ground wire to a metal nut in the light fixture? There are three metal nuts inside the canopy of the light fixture that each hold a wire for the light in place. The wires they hold in place are thick shielded wires.

Any help would be greatly appreciated
Thanks
J

 

If there is a grounding wire in the box, you connect it there. Apparently, this doesn't apply to you.

If the box is metal, you attach it to the box using a grounding pigtail you can pick up in the electrical aisle of your home center.

If the box is not metal and you have no grounding wire, then you won't have anyplace to connect the fixture grounding. You'll have to settle for an ungrounded fixture.