I'm attending IAU Symposium 399: Indigenous Astronomy in the Space Age this week. I really REALLY wanted to go in person (watching stars with elders by Uluru??!! ohhhh that was hard to say no to. But 30 hours of travel each way and a lot of carbon made it a little easier...)
It's already Monday morning in Australia, so it's starting! I will miss a lot of this live due to the large time zone difference and family visiting this week, but I'll try to share a few highlights! #IAUS399
Meeting website is here: https://www.archaeoastronomy.org/iaus399
I'm not really sure what to expect, but I have no doubt I will learn a lot from all of the talks. I'm giving a (recorded) talk later in the week about satellite pollution, and I sincerely hope to get some new perspectives, ideas, and alliances for fighting for dark sky access.
Starting off with a welcome from archeologist and Wurundjeri Elder Aunty Annette Xiberras, reminding everyone that Indigenous people in Australia (particularly women) had different rules applied to them until scary recently. She says this week is about celebrating what has been achieved and where archeology is going. Told a traditional Dreamtime story about the origin of the seven sisters.
Message: when you walk the land, you have a responsibility for the land and for the people. #IAUS399
Whoa cool! There's a website with Indigenous Australian sky knowledge that is set up for grades 5-12, so Australian (or international) teachers and share this knowledge appropriately and respectfully. https://www.ngarrngga.org/
Elder Marcia Langton talks about how so much knowledge about the patterns in the night sky was known to Indigenous people in Australia for thousands of years, before European scientists "told them about it". (Examples: Betelgeuse changing brightness, the ecliptic, celestial navigation)
To live and eat well as an Indigenous person in Australia for thousands of years required deep knowledge of astronomy.
#IAUS399
Wayne Orchiston (China): Multidisciplinary ethnoastronomy. How is human evolution related to our understanding of the skies?
Astronomy is part of culture, culture changes due to major env. changes, migrations, new religions, colonialism
Ex: Kumara (sweet potato) agriculture in NZ strongly tied to certain stars, took ~300 yrs for humans to learn that after arrival in NZ
Brief teaser about mtDNA and astronomical systems
#IAUS399
Georg Zotti, working on Stellarium which is 25 years old, and has now officially hit version 1.0! (Software developers, rejoice).Problem: some proper motions wrong, volunteer converted to Gaia catalog, now accurate for thousands of years (impt for archeoastronomy)
Note there are several versions of stellarium, web version doesn't have all this, only desktop version good for archeoastro. Lots of translation options (via community)+calendar options coming soon.
Elizabeth Brooker: using Stellarium for Torres Strait Islander astronomy, heliacal rising/setting of certain stars is important for rain/animal migration tracking. A challenge is some stars associated with this knowledge are unknown, but timing can give a few guesses.
I am totally being overly sensitive, but this slide background in an astro conf where I am presenting satellite pollution is making me sad!
Thanks for posting on this. It's so interesting!
You may be interested in the book Dark Emu.
It discuses Australian Aboriginal culture, including astronomy.
i would heartily recommend #TheFirstKnowledges” series as a sound introduction to the world-views of now-called-australia’s Indigenous peoples
“The First Knowledges series offers an introduction to Indigenous knowledges in vital areas and their application to the present day and the future. Exploring practices such as #architecture and design, #LandManagement, #Medicine, #Astronomy and innovation, this six-book series brings together two very different ways of understanding the natural world: one ancient, the other modern.
Each book is a collaboration between #Indigenous and non-Indigenous writers and editors. The series is edited by Margo Neale, senior Indigenous curator at the National Museum of #Australia.”
Titles in the series are
*Songlines: The Power and the Promise
Weaving deeply personal storytelling with extensive research on mnemonics, this book offers unique insights into Indigenous traditional knowledges, how they apply today and how they could help all peoples thrive into the future.
*Design: Building on Country
Aboriginal design is of a distinctly cultural nature, based in the Dreaming and in ancient practices grounded in Country.
*Country: Future Fire, Future Farming
For millennia, Indigenous Australians harvested this continent in ways that can offer contemporary environmental and economic solutions.
This book highlights the consequences of ignoring our history and details the remarkable agricultural and land-care techniques of First Nations peoples.
*Astronomy: Sky Country
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are the oldest scientists in human history.
Explore the connections between Aboriginal environmental and cultural practices and the behaviour of the stars, and consider what must be done to sustain our dark skies, and the information they hold, into the future.
This book issues a challenge for a new Australian design ethos, one that truly responds to the essence of Country and its people.
/2
@sundogplanets
#Books #IndigenousAuthors
continued
*Plants: Past, Present and Future
Plants are the foundation of life on Earth.
Plants: Past, Present and Future celebrates the deep cultural significance of plants to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and shows how engaging with this heritage could be the key to a healthier, more sustainable future.
*Law:
Law is culture, and culture is law. Given by the ancestors and cultivated over millennia, Indigenous law defines what it is to be human. Complex and evolving, law holds the keys to resilient, caring communities and a life in balance with nature.
Marcia Langton and Aaron Corn show how Indigenous law has enabled people to survive and thrive in Australia for more than 2000 generations. Nurturing people and places, law is the foundation of all Indigenous societies in Australia, giving them the tools to respond and adapt to major environmental and social changes. But law is not a thing of the past. These living, sophisticated systems are as powerful now as they have ever been, if not more so.
*Innovation
First Nations Australians are some of the oldest innovators in the world. Original developments in social and religious activities, trading strategies, technology and land-management are underpinned by philosophies that strengthen sustainability of Country and continue to be utilised today.
Innovation: Knowledge and Ingenuity reveals novel and creative practices such as: body shaping; cremation; sea hunting with the help of suckerfish; building artificial reefs for oyster farms; repurposing glass from Europeans into spearheads; economic responses to colonisation; and a Voice to Parliament.
—-
(another, very readable Indigenous author to look for is #TysonYunkaporta)
‘Let this series begin the discussion.’ – Bruce Pascoe The First Knowledges series offers an introduction to Indigenous knowledges in vital areas and their application to the present day and the future. Exploring practices such as architecture and design, land management, medicine, astronomy and innovation, this six-book series brings together two very different ways of …
@sundogplanets I got a lot out of reading First Knowledges Astronomy (https://thamesandhudson.com.au/product/first-knowledges-astronomy-sky-country/). A few things really stood out for me: the shear number of features in the sky that First Nations people are familiar with, the tying together of stories with the movements of objects in the night sky with changes in the landscape (what the Emu in the sky is up to tells you what's going on down on the ground), and the general appreciation of the inter-connection between Land, Water and Sky Country.
Marcia Langton is a co-author of the book on Law in the same series. Another great read.
The First Knowledges series offers an introduction to Indigenous knowledges in vital areas and their application to the present day and the future. Exploring practices such as architecture and design, land management, botany, astronomy and law, this six-book series brings together two very different ways of understanding the natural world: one ancient, the other modern. This fourth book focuses on Aboriginal knowledge of the night skies and its connection to Country.
@sundogplanets
I live in Australia and was not aware of this resource.
Thanks for sharing.
@sundogplanets I never understood that idea of talk about grades instead of ages. Every country has their own rules for 6yo-18yo schooling and grades (in this and other senses too), and I have to make the conversion in my head, if I happen to know which system they're talking about.
I guess in this case it's 11-17yo?
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