Dawes Review 5: Australian Aboriginal Astronomy and Navigation

Abstract

The traditional cultures of Aboriginal Australians include a significant astronomical component, perpetuated through oral tradition, ceremony, and art. This astronomical knowledge includes a deep understanding of the motion of objects in the sky, which was used for practical purposes such as constructing calendars and for navigation. There is also evidence that traditional Aboriginal Australians made careful records and measurements of cyclical phenomena, recorded unexpected phenomena such as eclipses and meteorite impacts, and could determine the cardinal points to an accuracy of a few degrees. Putative explanations of celestial phenomena appear throughout the oral record, suggesting traditional Aboriginal Australians sought to understand the natural world around them, in the same way as modern scientists, but within their own cultural context. There is also a growing body of evidence for sophisticated navigational skills, including the use of astronomically based songlines. Songlines are effectively oral maps of the landscape, and are an efficient way of transmitting oral navigational skills in cultures that do not have a written language. The study of Aboriginal astronomy has had an impact extending beyond mere academic curiosity, facilitating cross-cultural understanding, demonstrating the intimate links between science and culture, and helping students to engage with science.Keywords: history and philosophy of astronomy PrefaceThe Dawes Reviews are substantial reviews of topical areas in astronomy, published by authors of international standing at the invitation of the PASA Editorial Board. The reviews recognise William Dawes (1762-1836), second lieutenant in the Royal Marines and the astronomer on the First Fleet. Dawes was not only an accomplished astronomer, but spoke five languages, had a keen interest in botany, mineralogy, engineering, cartography, and music, compiled the first Aboriginal-English dictionary, and was an outspoken opponent of slavery. Warning to Aboriginal ReadersThis paper may contain names and images of people who are deceased.

Why are there Seven Sisters?

“…Astronomy is a central part of many Aboriginal cultures. An extensive review, citing all known publications in this field, is given by Norris (2016). Mountford (1976) reported that some Aboriginal people knew the name of every star as faint as fourth magnitude, and knew myths associated with most of those stars.…”

“…Mountford (1976) reported that some Aboriginal people knew the name of every star as faint as fourth magnitude, and knew myths associated with most of those stars. Even now, some elders can name most stars in the sky visible to the naked eye, and have an intuitive understanding of how the sky rotates over their heads from east to west during the night, and how it shifts over the course of a year (Norris, 2016). Maegraith (1932) says that 'The most interesting fact about Aboriginal astronomy is that all the adult males of the tribe are fully conversant with all that is known, while no young man of the tribe knows much about the stars until after his initiation is complete ...…”

“…2). They were blown into the sky by the Sun-woman as punishment for eating their totem animal, a king-fish, in violation of Yolngu law (Davis, 1989;Wells , 1973;Norris, 2016). • The Kaurna story (Gell , 1842;Teichelmann & Schuermann, 1840) that Orion is a group of boys who hunt kangaroo and emu on the celestial plain.…”

“…The Pleiades are one of the best known features of the Aboriginal sky and its stories have been described extensively (e.g. Andrews, 2005;Clarke, 2009;Johnson , 2011;Norris, 2016) so only a brief description will be attempted here. In nearly all Australian cultures, the Pleiades are female, and are often called the Seven Sisters (Johnson , 2011;Norris, 2016) .…”

“…Andrews, 2005;Clarke, 2009;Johnson , 2011;Norris, 2016) so only a brief description will be attempted here. In nearly all Australian cultures, the Pleiades are female, and are often called the Seven Sisters (Johnson , 2011;Norris, 2016) . They are generally identified with a group (usually seven, but sometimes six) of young girls, or sisters, often fleeing from the man or men in Orion (or occasionally from the Moon or another celestial body).…”