Adding MORE to our knowledge of stars and astronomy.
GRECO-ROMAN, EUROPEAN AND INDIGENOUS NATIVE AMERICAN, HAWAIIAN AND ALASKAN STAR CONSTELLATIONS.
There are no officially recognized constellations of Native American, Hawaiian and Native Alaskan origin recognized by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), which oversees the standardization of celestial naming conventions. The 88 official constellations in modern astronomy are largely based on Greek and Roman traditions. However, that doesn’t mean indigenous populations didn’t have their own rich astronomical traditions with star patterns and constellations that are significant within their cultural contexts.
Before going deeper into Indigenous constellations here is a quick overview of the 88 modern constellations officially recognized by the IAU in 1922. These 88 constellations depict 42 animals, 29 inanimate objects, and 17 humans or mythological characters. Twelve/thirteen of the ancient constellations belong to the zodiac, of which the origins remain unclear. Constellations in the far southern sky were added from the 15th century until the mid-18th century when European explorers began traveling to the Southern Hemisphere.
Indigenous Constellations
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Native American astronomy is a complex blend of unique tribal mythology, spirituality, and science. The stars and constellations are not just seen as physical objects but as interconnected with the rhythms of the Earth, seasons, and human life. Through their star wisdom, Native Americans tracked time, organized their societies, and maintained a deep connection to the cosmos. Learn more.
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No one can dispute that the ancient Hawaiians were master stargazers. In fact, their proficiency in developing star maps enabled them to navigate vast open oceans, traveling thousands of miles guided solely by their knowledge and teachings of the stars, sun, and moon. Not only did our Hawaiian ancestors reach the islands of Hawaii using star navigation, but they also relied on the movements of the moon and stars to determine the optimal times for farming and fishing. It is deeply ingrained in Hawaiian culture to observe weather patterns, bird migrations, tidal changes, and the stars to understand the environment, explore, and thrive in new lands. Learn more.
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Native Alaskan star constellations hold a rich cultural and historical significance, deeply intertwined with the indigenous peoples’ stories, cosmologies, and navigation practices. The constellations and their associated stories are part of an oral tradition that has been passed down for generations, shaping worldviews and everyday life in ways that differ from the Western astronomical tradition. Learn more.
EIGHTY EIGHT CONSTELLATION
COMMUNITY EVENTS
Voyage with the crew of the Hokule’a. Track their journey live!
Sponsored by the Polynesian Voyaging Society The Hokuleia has a live watching event. Live track the waʻa, Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia, as they sail in their voyages around the Pacific Ocean.
Stay connected with this link.
Second annual Native Star Stories Night held at Lick Observatory
UC Santa Cruz American Indian Resource Center, the University of California Observatories (UCO) recently hosted the second annual Native Star Stories Night at Lick Observatory at Mount Hamilton. (Photo by Anne Espinosa, UCO)
The People's Sky Conference Nov 8-10, 2024
Held at Princeton University and open to the public, this conference seeks to convene the most expansive representation of ancestral knowledge and indigenous science from communities across the globe, in order to highlight the incredible astronomical legacy of our communities and the ways our observations have to led to understanding ourselves. We hope to come together, share and compare our cosmologies, and find the means by which we may all better know our world, and the sky above.