Week 5: Indigenous Astronomy
Stories in the Stars
Rather than having two separate lessons, this week there is a collection of resources to work through - lots of watching videos and listening to audio. This can be broken up into smaller segments across the week if you like. An extra hour of Reading can be put towards Discovery this week.
Learning Intention: We are learning to understand the significance of the stars for Indigenous Australians.
Success Criteria: I can listen and reflect on stories about the stars, and explain some reasons why these stories were important to Indigenous Australians.
Success Criteria: I can listen and reflect on stories about the stars, and explain some reasons why these stories were important to Indigenous Australians.
Different cultures have different stories about the stars. Here is one very famous story, from Greek Mythology:
Exploring stars and constellations:
In a moment, you are going to have time to browse the night sky and explore constellations on Stellarium. Before you go, let's have a quick explore of the features together on the whiteboard, especially looking at what the icons across the bottom of the screen do.
TIPS:
- Change the time of the night sky by changing the clock at the bottom right.
- Click and drag to move across the sky. Zoom in and out.
- You can use the search bar to find specific constellations or stars.
- If you find a really good view of the sky where you can see several planets, leave it on this view and adjust the date (not the time!) forward day by day. This will show you the movement of the planets, and also the moon in its different phases.
Cultural Astronomy:
These days, the study of the sky knowledge of ancient and traditional cultures is called “cultural astronomy”, and it looks at how the knowledge of the night sky was important in peoples’ culture, ceremonies and daily life. Since Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been living for so long in Australia, they are considered to have the oldest continuous culture on Earth. If knowledge of the night sky was an important part of that culture, then they could also be considered to be the world’s first astronomers.
Let's read more, from the University of Melbourne's Indigenous Astronomy and the Solar System website:
Stories about the moon & sun:
Different Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups also had different stories about the stars, sun and moon. We are going to read just a few examples from the "Emu Dreaming" website:
The next clip we are going to watch explains more about the importance of astronomy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
(Pay attention to what the Wiradjuri people, of central NSW, call the giant emu constellation - write this down to refer back to later!)
(If this clip does not work at school it may be because it is through Facebook - try using a hotspot rather than the school's internet!)
Here is a different story about the emu constellation. This video has a man from the Kamilaroi people, of north-western NSW. Pay attention to the name that he gives the emu - is it the same as the name given to the emu by the Wiradjuri people?
Look up! There's an emu in the sky
We are now going to watch a longer clip (14 mins) - a TED Talk by an astrophysicist, Dr Duane Hamacher. Although you will notice his American accent, he is a lecturer at the University of New South Wales in the Nura Gili Indigenous Centre. Dr Hamacher researches the boundaries and overlap between Indigenous Knowledge and Western Science, and how these ways of understanding the natural world are beneficial to all. As part of this clip, Dr Hamacher explains another meaning of the giant emu in the sky.
Boorong Constellations:
In a moment, you are going to have some time (either independently or with a partner) to browse the illustrations below, showing some constellations in the southern night sky, as seen by the Boorong clan from north-west Victoria. These pictures have come from the "Stories in the Stars" Museums Victoria website. After some browsing time, we will meet back together and discuss these constellations.
If you have time another day you might like to go back onto Stellarium and see if you can find some of these constellations. You can search for them, and it will locate the area in the night sky where these constellations are, but they are not drawn in the program.
The first picture is a yet another different story about the giant emu in the Milky Way! After reading this one, think about why different groups of people would have such different stories.
Share & discuss:
- What did you notice in these constellations and their stories?
- In what ways did the Boorong people use the stars to inform their everyday lives?
- What are some of the different stories we have heard about the giant emu? Why do you think these stories are so different? What different ways do these three groups of people use this constellation to inform their lives?
This is a longer clip (15 mins) that shows many more Boorong constellations.
The cultural history of the Southern Cross to the Wathaurung / Wadawurrung people of the Kulin Nation.
This audio interview is with Wathaurung elder Aunty Marlene Gilson, an artist whose name came up when were learning about an indigenous perspective of the Gold Rush. Aunty Marlene's daughter was the artist who came to visit us and led the art component of the incursion we had in Term 1. In this interview, Aunty Marlene shares the Wathaurung creation story of the Southern Cross, compared to the way the Southern Cross was used on the Eureka Flag by the miners as a symbol of rebellion and the fight for their rights.
This audio interview is with Wathaurung elder Aunty Marlene Gilson, an artist whose name came up when were learning about an indigenous perspective of the Gold Rush. Aunty Marlene's daughter was the artist who came to visit us and led the art component of the incursion we had in Term 1. In this interview, Aunty Marlene shares the Wathaurung creation story of the Southern Cross, compared to the way the Southern Cross was used on the Eureka Flag by the miners as a symbol of rebellion and the fight for their rights.
Reflection: Discuss some of the reasons why creating and sharing stories about the stars was an important cultural practice for Indigenous Australians.