Australian Aboriginal astronomy is a name given to
Aboriginal Australian
Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...
culture relating to
astronomical
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxies ...
subjects – such as the
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
and
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
, the
star
A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...
s,
planet
A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a you ...
s, and the
Milky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye ...
, and their motions on the sky.
Traditional Aboriginal
culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...
and
mythology and religion
Religion and mythology differ in scope but have overlapping aspects. Both terms refer to systems of concepts that are of high importance to a certain community, making statements concerning the supernatural or sacred. Generally, mythology is cons ...
include many components of astronomy, and these traditions have been passed down
orally, through
ceremonies
A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion.
The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin '' caerimonia''.
Church and civil (secular) ...
, and in their
artwork of many kinds. The astronomical systems passed down thus show a depth of understanding of the movement of celestial objects which allowed them to use them as a practical means for creating
calendar
A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is also a physi ...
s and for
navigating across the continent and waters of Australia.
There is a diversity of astronomical traditions in Australia, each with its own particular expression of
cosmology
Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount (lexicographer), Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in ...
. However, there appear to be common themes and systems between the groups. Due to the long history of Australian Aboriginal astronomy, the Aboriginal peoples have been described as "world's first astronomers" on several occasions.
Many of the
constellation
A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object.
The origins of the e ...
s were given names based on their shapes, just as traditional western astronomy does, such as the
Pleiades
The Pleiades (), also known as The Seven Sisters, Messier 45 and other names by different cultures, is an asterism and an open star cluster containing middle-aged, hot B-type stars in the north-west of the constellation Taurus. At a distance of ...
,
Orion and the
Milky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye ...
, with others, such as Emu in the Sky, describes the dark patches rather than the points lit by the stars.
Contemporary Indigenous Australian art
Contemporary Indigenous Australian art (also known as contemporary Aboriginal Australian art) is the modern art work produced by Indigenous Australians, that is, Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander people. It is generally regarded a ...
often references astronomical subjects and their related
lore
Lore may refer to:
* Folklore, acquired knowledge or traditional beliefs
* Oral lore or oral tradition, orally conveyed cultural knowledge and traditions
Places
* Loré, former French commune
* Loré (East Timor), a city and subdistrict in Lau ...
, such as the
Seven Sisters.
Records of Aboriginal astronomy
One of the earliest written records of Aboriginal astronomy was made by William Edward Stanbridge, an Englishman who emigrated to Australia in 1841 and befriended the local
Boorong people.
Interpreting the sky
Emu in the sky
A
constellation
A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object.
The origins of the e ...
used almost everywhere in Australian Aboriginal culture is the "
Emu
The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus ''Dromaius''. The emu' ...
in the Sky", which consists of
dark nebula
A dark nebula or absorption nebula is a type of interstellar cloud, particularly molecular clouds, that is so dense that it obscures the visible wavelengths of light from objects behind it, such as background stars and emission or reflection nebu ...
e (opaque clouds of dust and gas in outer space) that are visible against the (centre and other sectors of the) Milky Way background.
[ The Emu's head is the very dark ]Coalsack
The Coalsack Nebula (Southern Coalsack, or simply the Coalsack) is a prominent dark nebula in the skies, being easily visible to the naked eye as a dark patch obscuring a brief section of Milky Way stars as they cross their southernmost region of ...
nebula, next to the Southern Cross
Crux () is a constellation of the southern sky that is centred on four bright stars in a cross-shaped asterism commonly known as the Southern Cross. It lies on the southern end of the Milky Way's visible band. The name ''Crux'' is Latin for c ...
; the body and legs are that extension of the Great Rift trailing out to Scorpius
Scorpius is a zodiac constellation located in the Southern celestial hemisphere, where it sits near the center of the Milky Way, between Libra to the west and Sagittarius to the east. Scorpius is an ancient constellation that pre-dates the Gre ...
.
In Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park is a national park on the northern side of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. The park is north of the Sydney central business district and generally comprises the land east of the M1 Pacific Motorway, sout ...
, north of Sydney, are extensive rock engravings of the Guringai
Kuringgai (also spelled Ku-ring-gai, Kuring-gai, Guringai, Kuriggai) (,) is an ethnonym referring to (a) an hypothesis regarding an aggregation of Indigenous Australian peoples occupying the territory between the southern borders of the Gamila ...
people who lived there, including representations of the creator-hero Daramulan
In Aboriginal cultures of south-east Australia, Daramulum (variations: Darhumulan, Daramulan, Dhurramoolun or Dharramaalan) (“one legged”, from dharra 'leg, thigh' + maal 'one' + -an suffix) is a sky hero associated with Baiame, and an emu ...
and his emu-wife. An engraving near the Elvina Track shows an emu in the same pose and orientation as the Emu in the Sky constellation.
To the Wardaman, however, the Coalsack is the head of a lawman.[Yidumduma Harney (2005)]
Bruce Pascoe
Bruce Pascoe (born 1947) is an Aboriginal Australian writer of literary fiction, non-fiction, poetry, essays and children's literature. As well as his own name, Pascoe has written under the pen names Murray Gray and Leopold Glass. Since August 2 ...
's book ''Dark Emu
''Dark Emu: Black Seeds: Agriculture or Accident?'' is a 2014 non-fiction book by Bruce Pascoe. It reexamines colonial accounts of Aboriginal people in Australia, and cites evidence of pre-colonial agriculture, engineering and building constr ...
'' takes its title from one of the Aboriginal names for the constellation, known as Gugurmin to the Wiradjuri
The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, ...
people.
In May 2020, the Royal Australian Mint
The Royal Australian Mint is the sole producer of all of Australia's circulating coins and is a Commonwealth Government entity operating within the portfolio of the Treasury. The Mint is situated in the Australian federal capital city of Canberr ...
launched a limited edition
The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, or collector's edition, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints, r ...
commemorative one-dollar coin, as the first in its "Star Dreaming" series celebrating Indigenous Australians' astrology.
Canoe in Orion
The Yolŋu
The Yolngu or Yolŋu () are an aggregation of Aboriginal Australian people inhabiting north-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. ''Yolngu'' means "person" in the Yolŋu languages. The terms Murngin, Wulamba, Yalnumata, M ...
people of northern Australia say that the constellation of Orion, which they call Julpan (or Djulpan), is a canoe
A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle.
In British English, the term ...
. They tell the story of three brothers who went fishing, and one of them ate a sawfish that was forbidden under their law. Seeing this, the Sun-woman, Walu, made a waterspout that carried him and his two brothers and their canoe up into the sky. The three stars that line in the constellation's centre, which form Orion's Belt
Orion's Belt or the Belt of Orion, also known as the Three Kings or Three Sisters, is an asterism in the constellation Orion. It consists of the three bright stars Alnitak
Alnitak is a triple star system in the constellation of ...
in Western mythology, are the three brothers; the Orion Nebula
The Orion Nebula (also known as Messier 42, M42, or NGC 1976) is a diffuse nebula situated in the Milky Way, being south of Orion's Belt in the constellation of Orion. It is one of the brightest nebulae and is visible to the naked eye in the nig ...
above them is the forbidden fish; and the bright stars Betelgeuse
Betelgeuse is a red supergiant of spectral type M1-2 and one of the largest stars visible to the naked eye. It is usually the tenth-brightest star in the night sky and, after Rigel, the second-brightest in the constellation of Orion ...
and Rigel
Rigel is a blue supergiant star in the constellation of Orion. It has the Bayer designation β Orionis, which is Latinized to Beta Orionis and abbreviated Beta Ori or β Ori. Rigel is the brightest and most massive componentand ...
are the bow and stern
The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Ori ...
of the canoe. This is an example of astronomical legends underpinning the ethical and social codes that people use on Earth.
Pleiades
The Pleiades
The Pleiades (), also known as The Seven Sisters, Messier 45 and other names by different cultures, is an asterism and an open star cluster containing middle-aged, hot B-type stars in the north-west of the constellation Taurus. At a distance of ...
constellation figures in the Dreamings and songline
A songline, also called dreaming track, is one of the paths across the land (or sometimes the sky) within the animist belief systems of the Aboriginal cultures of Australia which mark the route followed by localised "creator-beings" in the Dre ...
s of several Aboriginal Australian peoples, usually referred to as the seven sisters. The story has been described as "one of the most defining and predominant meta-narratives chronicled in ancient mainland Australia", which describes a male ancestral being (with names including Wati Nyiru, Yurlu and others[) who pursues seven sisters across the middle of the Australian continent from west to east, where the sisters turn into stars. Told by a number of peoples across the country, using varying names for the characters, it starts in Martu country in the ]Pilbara
The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a glo ...
region of Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
(specifically, Roebourne), and travels across the lands of the Ngaanyatjarra
The Ngaanyatjarra, also known (along with the Pini) as the Nana, are an Indigenous Australian cultural group of Western Australia. They are located in the Goldfields-Esperance region, as well as Northern Territory.
Language
Ngaanyatjarra is a ...
(WA) to (Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara
Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara, also known as APY, APY Lands or ''the Lands'', is a large, sparsely-populated local government area (LGA) for Aboriginal people, located in the remote north west of South Australia. Some of the aṉangu ...
, or APY lands, of South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
, where the Pitjantjatjara
The Pitjantjatjara (; or ) are an Aboriginal people of the Central Australian desert near Uluru. They are closely related to the Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra and their languages are, to a large extent, mutually intelligible (all are vari ...
and Yankunytjatjara
The Yankunytjatjara people, also written Yankuntjatjarra, Jangkundjara, and other variants, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of South Australia.
Language
Yankunytjatjara is a Western Desert language belonging to the Wati la ...
peoples live. The story also includes Warlpiri lands, the Tanami Desert
The Tanami Desert is a desert in northern Australia, situated in the Northern Territory and Western Australia.
It has a rocky terrain with small hills, and cacti. The Tanami was the Northern Territory's final frontier and was not fully explored b ...
of the Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
.
The Yamatji
Yamatji (or Yamaji) is a Wajarri word that has at least three different meanings:
* a member of the Watjarri people
* any Aboriginal Australian person from the Murchison region of Western Australia
* any group made up of members of different I ...
people of the Wajarri language
Wajarri is an endangered Australian Aboriginal language. It is one of the Kartu languages of the Pama–Nyungan family.
Geographic distribution
Wajarri country is inland from Geraldton, and extends as far south and west as Mullewa, north ...
group, of the Murchison region
The Murchison is an interim Australian bioregion located within the Mid West of Western Australia. The bioregion is loosely related to the catchment area of the Murchison River and has an area of . Traditionally the region is known as ''The ...
in Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
, call the sisters Nyarluwarri. When the constellation is close to the horizon as the sun is setting, the people know that it's the right time to harvest emu eggs, and they also use the brightness of the stars to predict seasonal rainfall.[
In the Kimberley region of ]Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
, the eagle hawk
The wedge-tailed eagle (''Aquila audax'') is the largest bird of prey in the continent of Australia. It is also found in southern New Guinea to the north and is distributed as far south as the state of Tasmania. Adults of this species have lo ...
chases the seven sisters up into the sky, where they become the star cluster and he becomes the Southern Cross.[
In the ]Western Desert cultural bloc
The Western Desert cultural bloc or just Western Desert is a cultural region in central Australia covering about , including the Gibson Desert, the Great Victoria Desert, the Great Sandy and Little Sandy Deserts in the Northern Territory, So ...
in central Australia, they are said to be seven sisters fleeing from the unwelcome attentions of a man represented by some of the stars in Orion, the hunter. In these stories, the man is called Nyiru or Nirunja,[ and the Seven Sisters is songline known as ''Kungkarangkalpa''.] The seven sisters story often features in the artwork of the region,[ such as the 2017 painting by ]Tjungkara Ken
Tjungkara Ken (born 1 October 1969) is a Pitjantjatjara artist from Amata, South Australia, in the APY lands. She began painting in 1997, when Minymaku Arts was opened by the women of Amaṯa. She started painting professionally in 2008. By that ...
,[ ]Kaylene Whiskey
Kaylene Whiskey, is a Pitjantjatjara artist from Indulkana, a remote Aboriginal community, in South Australia. Whiskey is a contemporary Aboriginal artist who is exhibited in many important Australian galleries and won the 2018 Sir John Sulman ...
's 2018 work "Seven Sistas", and the large-scale installation
Installation may refer to:
* Installation (computer programs)
* Installation, work of installation art
* Installation, military base
* Installation, into an office, especially a religious (Installation (Christianity) Installation is a Christian li ...
by the Tjanpi Desert Weavers
Tjanpi Desert Weavers is a social enterprise of the NPY Women's Council, representing over 400 women from 26 unique communities in the NPY (Ngaanyatjarra, Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara) region. Tjanpi is the Pitjantjatjara word for a type ...
commissioned as a feature of the National Gallery of Australia's 2020 ''Know My Name'' Exhibition. The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia
The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA), located on George Street in Sydney's The Rocks neighbourhood, is solely dedicated to exhibiting, interpreting, and collecting contemporary art, from across Australia and around the world. It is ...
in Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
holds a 2013 work by the Tjanpi Desert Weavers called ''Minyma Punu Kungkarangkalpa'' (Seven Sisters Tree Women). In March 2013, senior desert dancers from the APY Lands
Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara, also known as APY, APY Lands or ''the Lands'', is a large, sparsely-populated local government area (LGA) for Aboriginal people, located in the remote north west of South Australia. Some of the aṉangu ...
(South Australia) in collaboration with the Australian National University
The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...
's ARC Linkage and mounted by artistic director Wesley Enoch
Wesley James Enoch (born 1969) is an Australian playwright and artistic director. He is especially known for ''The 7 Stages of Grieving'', co-written with Deborah Mailman. He was artistic director of the Queensland Theatre Company from mid-2 ...
, performed ''Kungkarangkalpa: The Seven Sisters Songline'' on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin
Lake Burley Griffin is an artificial lake in the centre of Canberra, the capital of Australia. It was completed in 1963 after the Molonglo River, which ran between the city centre and Parliamentary Triangle, was dammed. It is named after Walte ...
in Canberra
Canberra ( )
is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
.[
In the Warlpiri version of the story, the Napaljarri sisters are often represented carrying a man called Wardilyka, who is in love with the women. But the morning star, Jukurra-jukurra, a man from a different ]skin group
Aboriginal Australian kinship comprises the systems of Aboriginal customary law governing social interaction relating to kinship in traditional Aboriginal cultures. It is an integral part of the culture of every Aboriginal group across Austra ...
and who is also in love with the sisters, chases them across the sky. Each night they launch themselves into the sky, and each night he follows them. This story is known as the ''Napaljarri-warnu Jukurrpa
The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal beliefs. It was originally used by Francis Gillen, quickly adopted by his co ...
''.
The people of around Lake Eyre
Lake Eyre ( ), officially known as Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre, is an endorheic lake in east-central Far North South Australia, some north of Adelaide. The shallow lake is the depocentre of the vast endorheic Lake Eyre basin, and contains the ...
in South Australia tell how the ancestor male is prevented from capturing one of the seven sisters by a great flood
A flood myth or a deluge myth is a myth in which a great flood, usually sent by a deity or deities, destroys civilization, often in an act of divine retribution. Parallels are often drawn between the flood waters of these myths and the primaeval ...
.[
The ]Wirangu people
The Wirangu are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Western coastal region of South Australia.
Name
Daisy Bates stated that the Wirangu ethnonym was composed of two words: ''wira'' (cloud) and ''wonga'' (speech).
Language
Wirangu is usual ...
of the west coast of South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
have a creation story
A creation myth (or cosmogonic myth) is a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it., "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop ...
embodied in a songline
A songline, also called dreaming track, is one of the paths across the land (or sometimes the sky) within the animist belief systems of the Aboriginal cultures of Australia which mark the route followed by localised "creator-beings" in the Dre ...
of great significance based on the Pleiades. In the story, the hunter (the Orion constellation
Orion is a prominent constellation located on the celestial equator and visible throughout the world. It is one of the most conspicuous and recognizable constellations in the night sky. It is named after Orion, a hunter in Greek mythology. It ...
) is named Tgilby. Tgilby, after falling in love with the seven sisters, known as Yugarilya, chases them out of the sky, onto and across the earth. He chases them as the Yugarilya chase a snake, Dyunu.
The Boonwurrung
The Boonwurrung people are an Aboriginal people of the Kulin nation, who are the traditional owners of the land from the Werribee River to Wilsons Promontory in the Australian state of Victoria. Their territory includes part of what is now the c ...
people of the Kulin Kulin may refer to:
Places
*Kulin, Western Australia, a small town in Australia
** Shire of Kulin, a local government area
*Kulin, Iran, a village near Tehran
*Kulin, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, a village in south-west Poland
*Kulin, Kuyavian-Pome ...
nation of Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
tell the Karatgurk story, which tells of how a crow robbed the seven sisters of their secret of how to make fire, thus bringing the skill to the people on earth.
In another story, told by peoples of New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, the seven sisters are beautiful women known as the Maya-Mayi, two of whom are kidnapped by a warrior, Warrumma, or Warunna. They eventually escape by climbing a pine tree
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...
that continually grows up into the sky where they join their other sisters.
In 2017, a major exhibition entitled '' Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters'' was mounted at the National Museum of Australia
The National Museum of Australia, in the national capital Canberra, preserves and interprets Australia's social history, exploring the key issues, people and events that have shaped the nation. It was formally established by the ''National Muse ...
,[ afterwards travelling to ]Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
(2022) and Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
(2023).
In September 2020, the Royal Australian Mint
The Royal Australian Mint is the sole producer of all of Australia's circulating coins and is a Commonwealth Government entity operating within the portfolio of the Treasury. The Mint is situated in the Australian federal capital city of Canberr ...
issued its second commemorative one-dollar coin in its "Star Dreaming" series celebrating Indigenous Australians' astrology (see Emu in the sky above).[
]
The Milky Way
The Kaurna people
The Kaurna people (, ; also Coorna, Kaura, Gaurna and other variations) are a group of Aboriginal people whose traditional lands include the Adelaide Plains of South Australia. They were known as the Adelaide tribe by the early settlers. Kaurn ...
of the Adelaide Plains
The Adelaide Plains (Kaurna name Tarndanya) is a plain in South Australia lying between the coast (Gulf St Vincent) on the west and the Mount Lofty Ranges on the east. The southernmost tip of the plain is in the southern seaside suburbs of Ade ...
of South Australia called the (centre and other sectors of) the Milky Way ''wodliparri'' in the Kaurna language
Kaurna ( or ) is a Pama-Nyungan language historically spoken by the Kaurna peoples of the Adelaide Plains of South Australia. The Kaurna peoples are made up of various tribal clan groups, each with their own ''parnkarra'' district of land and ...
, meaning "house river". They believed that Karrawirra Parri (the River Torrens
The River Torrens , (Karrawirra Parri / Karrawirraparri) is the most significant river of the Adelaide Plains. It was one of the main reasons for the siting of the city of Adelaide, capital of South Australia. It flows from its source in the ...
) was a reflection of wodliparri.
The Yolŋu
The Yolngu or Yolŋu () are an aggregation of Aboriginal Australian people inhabiting north-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. ''Yolngu'' means "person" in the Yolŋu languages. The terms Murngin, Wulamba, Yalnumata, M ...
people believe that when they die, they are taken by a mystical canoe, ''Larrpan'', to the spirit-island Baralku
Baralku, also written Burralku or Bralgu, is a place connected with creation ancestors in the mythology of the Yolngu people of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is referred to as island of the dead, and the place where the ...
in the sky, where their camp-fires can be seen burning along the edge of the great river of the Milky Way. The canoe is sent back to Earth as a shooting star, letting their family on Earth know that they have arrived safely in the spirit-land. Aboriginals also thought that god was the canoe.[
The ]Boorong
The Wergaia or Werrigia people are an Aboriginal Australian group in the Mallee and Wimmera regions of north-Western Victoria, made up of a number of clans. The people were also known as the Maligundidj (in the Wotjobaluk language) which means ...
people see in the Southern Cross
Crux () is a constellation of the southern sky that is centred on four bright stars in a cross-shaped asterism commonly known as the Southern Cross. It lies on the southern end of the Milky Way's visible band. The name ''Crux'' is Latin for c ...
a possum in a tree.[
]
Sun and Moon
Many traditions have stories of a female Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
and a male Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
.
The Yolŋu say that Walu, the Sun-woman, lights a small fire each morning, which we see as the dawn.[Wells (1964)] She paints herself with red ochre
Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...
, some of which spills onto the clouds, creating the sunrise. She then lights a torch and carries it across the sky from east to west, creating daylight. At the end of her journey, as she descends from the sky, some of her ochre paints again rubs off onto the clouds, creating the sunset. She then puts out her torch, and throughout the night travels underground back to her starting camp in the east.[ Other Aboriginal peoples of the ]Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
call her Wuriupranili
In the mythology of the Tiwi people of northern Australia, the Sun Woman Wuriupranili (or Wuriunpranilli) is a solar goddess whose stringybark torch is the Sun. When she wakes each morning in the east she lights a small fire, which mankind sees ...
. Other stories about the Sun involve Wala, Yhi
In Gamilaraay mythology), Yhi (sometimes also rendered Yarai/Yaay) is a female creator spirit and personification of the sun. She chases Bahloo (the moon) across the sky; supernovas are said to happen when she catches up to him.
According to a c ...
, and Gnowee
In Wotjobaluk mythology, Gnowee is a solar goddess whose torch is the Sun. She was once a woman who lived upon the Earth at a time when it was eternally dark, and people could only move about with the aid of bark torches. One day, she left her li ...
.
The Yolŋu tell that Ngalindi, the Moon-man, was once young and slim (the waxing Moon
Concerning the lunar month of ~29.53 days as viewed from Earth, the lunar phase or Moon phase is the shape of the Moon's directly sunlit portion, which can be expressed quantitatively using areas or angles, or described qualitatively using the t ...
), but grew fat and lazy (the full Moon
The full moon is the lunar phase when the Moon appears fully illuminated from Earth's perspective. This occurs when Earth is located between the Sun and the Moon (when the ecliptic coordinate system, ecliptic longitudes of the Sun and Moon opp ...
). His wives chopped bits off him with their axes (the waning Moon
Concerning the lunar month of ~29.53 days as viewed from Earth, the lunar phase or Moon phase is the shape of the Moon's directly sunlit portion, which can be expressed quantitatively using areas or angles, or described qualitatively using the t ...
); to escape them he climbed a tall tree towards the Sun, but died from the wounds (the new Moon
In astronomy, the new moon is the first lunar phase, when the Moon and Sun have the same ecliptic longitude. At this phase, the lunar disk is not visible to the naked eye, except when it is silhouetted against the Sun during a solar eclipse.
...
). After remaining dead for three days, he rose again to repeat the cycle, and continues doing so till this day. The Kuwema people in the Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
say that he grows fat at each full Moon by devouring the spirits of those who disobey the tribal laws.[Hulley (1996)] Another story by the Aboriginals of Cape York involves the making of a giant boomerang
A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning b ...
that is thrown into the sky and becomes the Moon.[
A story from Southern ]Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
concerns a beautiful woman who is forced to live by herself in the sky after a number of scandalous affair
An affair is a sexual relationship, romantic friendship, or passionate attachment in which at least one of its participants has a formal or informal commitment to a third person who may neither agree to such relationship nor even be aware of i ...
s.
The Yolŋu also associated the Moon with the tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravity, gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another.
Tide t ...
s.[
]
Eclipses
The Warlpiri people
The Warlpiri, sometimes referred to as Yapa, are a group of Aboriginal Australians defined by their Warlpiri language, although not all still speak it. There are 5,000–6,000 Warlpiri, living mostly in a few towns and settlements scattered thr ...
explain a solar eclipse
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of the Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six month ...
as being the Sun-woman being hidden by the Moon-man as he makes love to her.[ This explanation is shared by other groups, such as the Wirangu.
In the ]Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park is a national park on the northern side of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. The park is north of the Sydney central business district and generally comprises the land east of the M1 Pacific Motorway, sout ...
there are a number of engravings showing a crescent shape, with sharp horns pointing down, and below it a drawing of a man in front of a woman. While the crescent shape has been assumed by most researchers to represent a boomerang, some argue that it is more easily interpreted as a solar eclipse, with the mythical man-and-woman explanation depicted below it.[
]
Venus
The rising of Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...
marks an important ceremony of the Yolŋu, who call it Barnumbirr
Barnumbirr, also known as Banumbirr or Morning Star, is a creator-spirit in the Yolngu culture of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia, who is identified as the planet Venus. In Yolngu Dreaming mythology, she is believed to have ...
("Morning Star and Evening Star"). They gather after sunset to await the rising of the planet. As she reappears (or in other nearby weeks appears only) in the early hours before dawn, the Yolŋu say that she draws behind her a rope of light attached to the island of Baralku
Baralku, also written Burralku or Bralgu, is a place connected with creation ancestors in the mythology of the Yolngu people of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is referred to as island of the dead, and the place where the ...
on Earth, and along this rope, with the aid of a richly decorated "Morning Star Pole", the people are able to communicate with their dead loved ones, showing that they still love and remember them.
Jupiter
The Dja Dja Wurrung
Dja Dja Wurrung (Pronounced Ja-Ja-war-rung), also known as the Djaara or Jajowrong people and Loddon River tribe, are an Aboriginal Australian people who are the Traditional owners of lands including the watersheds of the Loddon and Avoca rive ...
call Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...
"Bunjil
Bunjil, also spelt Bundjil, is a creator deity, culture hero and ancestral being, often depicted as a wedge-tailed eagle in Australian Aboriginal mythology of some of the Aboriginal peoples of Victoria.
Creation stories
In the Kulin nation ...
's campfire". The planet
A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a you ...
features in the Dja Dja Wurrung Aboriginal Clans Corporation logo, as a symbol of the Creator Spirit.
Eta Carinae
In 2010, astronomers Duane Hamacher and David Frew from Macquarie University
Macquarie University ( ) is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of S ...
in Sydney showed that the Boorong Aboriginal people of northwestern Victoria, Australia, witnessed the outburst of Eta Carinae
Eta Carinae (η Carinae, abbreviated to η Car), formerly known as Eta Argus, is a stellar system containing at least two stars with a combined luminosity greater than five million times that of the Sun, located around distant in t ...
in the 1840s and incorporated it into their oral traditions as ''Collowgulloric War'', the wife of ''War'' (Canopus
Canopus is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Carina (constellation), Carina and the list of brightest stars, second-brightest star in the night sky. It is also Bayer designation, designated α Carinae, which is Lat ...
, the Crow – ).[
] This is the only definitive indigenous record of Eta Carinae's outburst identified in the literature to date.
Astronomical calendars
Aboriginal calendars tend to differ from European calendars: many groups in northern Australia use a calendar with six seasons, and some groups mark the seasons by the stars which are visible during them. For the Pitjantjatjara
The Pitjantjatjara (; or ) are an Aboriginal people of the Central Australian desert near Uluru. They are closely related to the Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra and their languages are, to a large extent, mutually intelligible (all are vari ...
, for example, the rising of the Pleiades at dawn (in May) marks the start of winter.[Clarke (2003)]
Stories enrich a custom-linked calendar whereby the heliacal rising
The heliacal rising ( ) or star rise of a star occurs annually, or the similar phenomenon of a planet, when it first becomes visible above the eastern horizon at dawn just before sunrise (thus becoming "the morning star") after a complete orbit of ...
or setting of stars or constellations indicates to Aboriginal Australians
Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...
when it is time to move to a new place and/or look for a new food source.[
The ]Boorong
The Wergaia or Werrigia people are an Aboriginal Australian group in the Mallee and Wimmera regions of north-Western Victoria, made up of a number of clans. The people were also known as the Maligundidj (in the Wotjobaluk language) which means ...
people in Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
know that when ''the Malleefowl
The malleefowl (''Leipoa ocellata'') is a stocky ground-dwelling Australian bird about the size of a domestic chicken (to which it is distantly related). It is notable for the large nesting mounds constructed by the males and lack of parental ca ...
'' (Lyra
Lyra (; Latin for lyre, from Greek ''λύρα'') is a small constellation. It is one of the 48 listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and is one of the modern 88 constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union. Lyra was ...
) disappears in October, to "sit with the Sun", it is time to start gathering her eggs on Earth. Other groups know that when Orion first appears in the sky, the dingo
The dingo (''Canis familiaris'', ''Canis familiaris dingo'', ''Canis dingo'', or ''Canis lupus dingo'') is an ancient (Basal (phylogenetics), basal) lineage of dog found in Australia (continent), Australia. Its taxonomic classification is de ...
puppies are about to be born. When Scorpius
Scorpius is a zodiac constellation located in the Southern celestial hemisphere, where it sits near the center of the Milky Way, between Libra to the west and Sagittarius to the east. Scorpius is an ancient constellation that pre-dates the Gre ...
appears, the Yolŋu know that the Macassan
Makassar (, mak, ᨆᨀᨔᨑ, Mangkasara’, ) is the capital of the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan ...
fisherman would soon arrive to fish for trepang.[
It is not known to what extent Aboriginal people were interested in the precise motion of the sun, moon, planets or stars. However, it likely that some of the ]stone arrangements
__NOTOC__
Aboriginal stone arrangements are a form of rock art constructed by Aboriginal Australians. Typically, they consist of stones, each of which may be about in size, laid out in a pattern extending over several metres or tens of metres. ...
in Victoria such as Wurdi Youang
Wurdi Youang is the name attributed to an Aboriginal stone arrangement located off the Little River – Ripley Road at Mount Rothwell, near Little River, Victoria in Australia. The site was acquired by the Indigenous Land Corporation on 14 Janu ...
near Little River, Victoria
Little River is a town in Victoria, Australia, approximately south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Greater Geelong and Wyndham local government areas. Little River recorded a population of 1,353 a ...
may have been used to predict and confirm the equinox
A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun crosses the Earth's equator, which is to say, appears directly above the equator, rather than north or south of the equator. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise "due east" and se ...
es and/or solstice
A solstice is an event that occurs when the Sun appears to reach its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around June 21 and December 21. In many countr ...
s. The arrangement is aligned with the setting sun at the solstices and equinox, but its age is unknown.
There are rock engravings by the Nganguraku people at Ngaut Ngaut which, according to oral tradition, represent lunar cycles. Most of their culture (including their language) has been lost because of the banning of such things by Christian missionaries
A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
before 1913.[
]
In contemporary culture
A great deal of contemporary Aboriginal art has an astronomical theme, reflecting the astronomical elements of the artists' cultures. Prominent examples are Gulumbu Yunupingu
Gulumbu Yunupingu (1943 – 10 May 2012), after her death known as Djotarra or Ms Yunupingu, was an Australian Aboriginal artist and women's leader from the Yolngu people of Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Early life a ...
, Bill Yidumduma Harney
Bill Yidumduma Harney is an elder of the Wardaman people, known as an artist, storyteller, and musician. As of 2022, he lives at Menngen Station, near Katherine in the Northern Territory of Australia, which lies in the traditional lands of the W ...
, and Nami Maymuru, all of whom have won awards or been finalists in the Telstra Indigenous Art Awards. In 2009 an exhibition of Indigenous Astronomical Art from WA, named Ilgarijiri was launched at AIATSIS
The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), established as the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (AIAS) in 1964, is an independent Australian Government statutory authority. It is a collecting, ...
in Canberra
Canberra ( )
is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
in conjunction with a Symposium on Aboriginal Astronomy.'Things belonging to the sky': a symposium on Indigenous Astronomy
Other contemporary painters include the daughters of the late Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri
Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri AO (1932 – 21 June 2002) was an Australian painter, considered to be one of the most collected and renowned Australian Aboriginal artists. His paintings are held in galleries and collections in Australia and ...
, who have the seven sisters as one of their Dreamings. Gabriella Possum and Michelle Possum paint the Seven Sisters Dreaming in their paintings. They inherited this Dreaming through their maternal line.
See also
* Australian Aboriginal Astronomy Project The Australian Aboriginal Astronomy Project is a collaboration of academics, educators, and Australian Aboriginal elder, Indigenous elders researching the astronomical traditions and knowledge of Indigenous Australians, commonly termed Australian Ab ...
* Archaeoastronomy
Archaeoastronomy (also spelled archeoastronomy) is the interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary study of how people in the past "have understood the phenomena in the sky, how they used these phenomena and what role the sky played in their cultur ...
* Indigenous Australian art
Indigenous Australian art includes art made by Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including collaborations with others. It includes works in a wide range of media including painting on leaves, bark painting, wood carving ...
* List of archaeoastronomical sites by country
This is a list of sites where claims for the use of archaeoastronomy have been made, sorted by country.
The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and the International Astronomical Union (IAU) jointly published a thematic study on ...
* Pleiades in folklore and literature
High visibility of the star cluster Pleiades in the night sky and its position along the ecliptic (which approximates to the solar system's common planetary plane) has given it importance in many cultures, ancient and modern. Its heliacal rising, ...
References
Further reading
* }
ABC ''Message Stick'' program on Aboriginal Astronomy
story at Questacon
Questacon – The National Science and Technology Centre is an interactive science communication facility in Canberra, Australia. It is a museum with more than 200 interactive exhibits relating to Science, technology and society, science and ...
ABC Radio National Artworks piece on "The First Astronomers"
* Cairns, H. & Yidumduma Harney, B. (2003). ''Dark Sparklers: Yidumduma's Aboriginal Astronomy''. Hugh Cairns, Sydney.
* Fredrick, S. (2008). ''The Sky of Knowledge: A Study of the Ethnoastronomy of the Aboriginal People of Australia''. Master of Philosophy Thesis. Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, UK.
* Fuller, R.S.; Hamacher, D.W. & Norris, R.P. (2013). Astronomical Orientations of Bora Ceremonial Grounds in Southeast Australia. ''Australian Archaeology'', No. 77, pp. 30–37.
* Hamacher, D.W. (2013). Aurorae in Australian Aboriginal Traditions." Journal of Astronomical History & Heritage", Vol. 16(2), pp. 207–219.
* Hamacher, D.W. (2012). ''On the Astronomical Knowledge and Traditions of Aboriginal Australians''. Doctor of Philosophy Thesis. Department of Indigenous Studies, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
*
*
*
*
* Hamacher, D.W. & Norris, R.P. (2011). Bridging the Gap through Australian Cultural Astronomy. In ''Archaeoastronomy & Ethnoastronomy: building bridges between cultures'', edited by C. Ruggles. Cambridge University Press, pp. 282–290.
*
*
*
*
* Haynes, R.F., et al. (1996). Dreaming the Stars. In ''Explorers of the Southern Sky'', edited by R. Haynes. Cambridge University Press, pp. 7–20.
* Johnson, D. (1998). ''Night skies of Aboriginal Australia: a Noctuary''. University of Sydney Press.
*
* Morieson, J. (1996). ''The Night Sky of the Boorong''. Master of Arts Thesis, Australian Centre, University of Melbourne.
* Morieson, J. (2003). The Astronomy of the Boorong. ''World Archaeological Congress'', June 2003.
* Norris, R.P. & Hamacher, D.W. (2013). Australian Aboriginal Astronomy: An Overview. In ''Handbook of Cultural Astronomy'', edited by C. Ruggles. Springer, in press.
*
* Norris, R.P. & Hamacher, D.W. (2009). The Astronomy of Aboriginal Australia. In ''The Role of Astronomy in Society and Culture'', edited by D. Valls-Gabaud & A. Boksenberg. Cambridge University Press, pp. 39–47.
*
* Norris, R.P. & Norris, P.M. (2008). ''Emu Dreaming: An Introduction to Aboriginal Astronomy''. Emu Dreaming, Sydney.
* Norris, R. P., (2016)
External links
* Website created by Kokatha
The Kokatha, also known as the Kokatha Mula, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of South Australia. They speak the Kokatha language, close to or a dialect of the Western Desert language.
Country
Traditional Kokatha lands extend ov ...
artist Darryl Milika
Darryl is an English name, a variant spelling of Darell.
Male variations of this name include: Darlin, Daryl, Darrell, Darryl, Daryll, Darryll, Darrell, Darrel.
Female and unisex variations of this name include: Daryl, Darian, Dareen, Darell ...
, designer of the Yerrakartarta art installation in Adelaide.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Australian Aboriginal Astronomy
Australian Aboriginal mythology
Archaeoastronomy
Astronomy in Australia