A Newly Documented Whole‐Sky Circumpolar Constellation in Alaskan Gwich’in

Traditional documentation of Indigenous constellations often seeks a direct correlation with classical Western constellations, but this approach has limited the understanding of Dene astronomy. In Gwich’in (Dene) tradition, the constellation yahdii is a whole-sky constellation encompassing nearly all visible stars, with the Big Dipper representing only its tail. The remaining stars are named using Gwich’in body-part terms, creating a unified sky concept. This study reveals that Dene astronomy is far richer than previously recognized and challenges biases in traditional constellation documentation by presenting the first well-documented Indigenous whole-sky constellation. Read more