Indigenous Astronomy and Navigation - Westmead Hospital July 2018 - WSLHD
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Indigenous Astronomy and Navigation
Westmead Hospital July 2018
Ray Norris
School of Computing, Engineering & Maths, Western Sydney University
& CSIRO Astronomy & Space Science
With special acknowledgement and respect to the traditional owners of this land,
the elders past and present, the traditional owners of Australia,
and thanks to the Yolngu, Wardaman, Euahlayi and other groups who have helped and welcomed us
The Sky in Ceremony Wardaman senior elder Bill Yidumduma Harney
Altair
Bulyan
Wedge-tail Eagle
Vega
Jalala
Arcturus Tunnel
Munin
Big Rock cod
Bill Yidumduma Harney, Senior Wardaman elder
A search for
Ancient Aboriginal Astronomy
Hundreds of years ago, did Aboriginal people:
know the sky in detail?
predict when or where a celestial object would rise,
(the “Stonehenge hypothesis”)?
make measurements or
records of astronomical
phenomena?
try to understand tides,
eclipses, etc?
The emu in the sky
Coalsack
Southern Cross
Scorpius
Sydney Rock engravings More info: Google on “Sydney Rock Engravings”
Do the emu
engravings
represent real
emus, or the emu in
the sky?
(Hugh Cairns ~1995)
This orientation occurs when the real-life emus lay their eggs (Late Autumn-Winter).
Additional circumstantial evidence that this engraving is an image of the “Emu in the Sky”: •The Emu engraving site is an initiation site •The Emu in the sky is associated with inititiation. e.g. Kamilaroi initiation (“Bora”) ceremonies are held when the EMU is vertical
A view of Orion: Betelgeuse
Orion Nebula
RigelA Southern
view of Orion:
“The saucepan”The Yolngu
view of Djulpan
(Orion):
Three brothers of the king-fish
clan went hunting. Their
ancestors are king-fish, so it is
taboo to eat king-fish.
One brother caught and ate a
king-fish.
The sun saw this, and created a
waterspout that lifted them right
up into the sky where you can
still see them.The Pleiades (seven sisters)
The Pleiades (seven sisters)
Djulpan
A Yolngu lady: “Seven sisters
…come back with turtle, fish,
freshwater snakes and also bush
foods like yams and berries.”
“The stars come in season when
the food and berries come out, …
They give Yolŋu bush tucker, they
multiply the foods in the sea –
that’s why Yolŋu are happy to
see them.”The seven sisters (Pleiades) Kuwema people, NT: “You see that mob of stars? We blackfellas call him Manbuk and all day he chases that mob of girls over there.”
In most Aboriginal cultures,
the Sun is female
(e.g. Yolngu: Walu – the Sun-woman)Phases of the Moon
Invisible “New
Moon” for 3
nights
Over the course of a month, the shape of the moon
changes a little each day and rises a little later each dayIn most Aboriginal cultures,
the Moon is a very bad, fat, man
(e.g. Yolngu: Ngalindi – the Moon-man)
• Many tell the story of how the Moon
grew fat and lazy, and then became
ill, and died.
• And then, after three days, he rose
again to life.Solar Eclipse
(not to scale) Sun
Earth
MoonIs there evidence of
understanding the
origin of eclipses?
Mrs Peggs (WA, 1900): “how will the
natives react to a solar eclipse?”Is there evidence of
understanding the
origin of eclipses?
Mrs Peggs (WA, 1900): “how will the
natives react to a solar eclipse?”
Kunwinjku, NW Arnhem Land:
Solar eclipse: The sun-woman is being
covered by the moon-man as they make love.
Lunar eclipse: The Sun is trying to chase and
overtake him, but the moon always escapes.
Wirangu, central desert (via Daisy Bates):
Solar eclipse: The Sun and Moon became
“guri-arra” – husband and wife togetherThe Moon and the Tides • Sea rises and falls twice each day • Tides are more extreme at some times of the year than at others
Galileo vs. the Yolngu
Galileo’s Greatest Blunder:
The Moon and the Tides
Kepler: the tides are caused by the Moon
Galileo: “A lamentable piece of mysticism!”
Must be caused by the motion of the Earth round
the Sun!
Compared it to water
sloshing around in a barge.
Ignored the fact that his idea
predicted one tide per day.The road to Yolngu Astronomy
The Yolngu explanation of the tides
At high tide, as the Full/new Moon passes
through the horizon at dusk/dawn, it fills with
water
When the moon is high in the sky at dusk/dawn
(crescent Moon), it empties, leaving a low tide.The Yolngu explanation of the tides
At high tide, as the Full/new Moon passes
through the horizon at dusk/dawn, it fills with
water
When the moon is high in the sky at dusk/dawn
(crescent Moon), it empties, leaving a low tide.Yolngu 1 Galileo 0
So there was astronomy. What
about navigation?
Trade routes have been
known for decades. Only
now are we starting to
understand their
significance *
“Red and yellow ochre
from this area are
considered very powerful
and were traded for long
distances.” #
Diagram from McCarthy (1939) 'Trade in Aboriginal
Australia'. Oceania 9, 4
* Kerwin (2010) “Aboriginal Dreaming Paths and Trading
Routes”
#Lee & Harney (2009) Introduction to the Rock Art of
Wardaman CountryHow accurate
are they?
Example: linear stone
arrangements in NSWHow accurate are they?
Hamacher, Fuller, & Norris, 2012, Aust. Arch., 75, 46.
Many stone arrangements are accurately aligned
north-south or East-West! How did Aboriginal
people know these directions so accurately? From
astronomical observations!Wurdi Youang, Victoria
© NHKWurdi Youang, Victoria
Three large
stones at
highest point© NHK
Wurdi Youang, Victoria Based on original suggestion by Morieson, 2003, World Archaeological Congress,Washington DC, 2003
From Norris et al., 2013, Rock Art Research, 30, 55
© NHK
So were these directions used
for navigation?
Each night where we were going to
travel back to the camp otherwise
you don’t get lost and all the only tell
was about a star. How to travel?
Follow the star along*
-Bill
has a detailed mental map of the
sky, and knows how it changes
through the night and through the
year.
That’s Emu Foot tells you, he’s south.
If you want to go south-west, you go
on the right hand side of the emu…#
# Harney (2004) Dark Sparklers, p63
* Harney (2009) at AIATSIS meeting on Aboriginal AstronomyWhy is Venus always low in the sky?
The Morning Star
(Banumbirr)
“Every morning, inCeremony
the right season, at
the beginning(from
of dawn, I ng
the Yol willu rise in the
people)
sky just before Walu, the Sun, makes
the sky glow with her light…the people
Pole made by Richard Garrawurra, from Elcho Island
will see my light in the sky, Yarrapay
and see the
pathway of light towards this place.”Yolngu elder Gali dancing the Morning Star Ceremony, Elcho Island, May 2014
So where’s the rope?
Zodiacal light (caused by
sunlight scattering of dust
in the solar system)Yolngu 1 Ray 0
A Euahlayi songline reflected in the sky
(Fuller, Anderson, et al., 2014, JAAS, in press , based on traditional knowledge)
Carnarvon Gorge
Zeta Scorpii
Eta Scorpii
Roma
Sargas
Surat
Girtab
Gamma Scorpii St George
Dirranbandi Queensland
Arkab NSW
GoodoogaGujingga songline by Bill Harney Not just songline trail, walking trail, trade routes. You sing a song, then you follow your song, in that track you go along singing the song, like a blazed mark. (Dark Sparklers p. 63) Many current-day highways are based on songlines
Darwin
Katherine
Kununurra
Port hedland
Marble BarA Darug songline from Sydney
to the Blue MountainsFor more info:
Emu Dreaming
available from:
www.emudreaming.com
or
Amazon.com.auYou can also read
