iloa galaxy forum canada 2015 - eldon yellowhorn
TRANSCRIPT
Astronomy from theBlackfoot Moon
Welcome to the homeland
MusqueamSquamishTsleil-Waututh
Blackfoot Country
Traditional culture defined by buffalo hunting using cliffs & corals
The big sky is the always blue
When Sun retreats to his tipi, the star people become visible
The sky country was once joined to the earth but the star people pulled the sky and everything
blue away
The Sky PeopleFirst family of the sky country: Sun, Moon, VenusVisible planets are heroes: Scarface (Jupiter) also called ‘Mistaken morning star’; Cuts wood (Saturn); Blood clot (Mars) and Mercury (?)Constellations are families and the most important are the ‘seven siblings’ (the big dipper) they tell time during the night; the ‘lost boys’ (Pleiades) are a stellar calendar for planning buffalo huntsBlackfoot people recorded their astronomical knowledge in oral narratives (star lore)We paint our cosmology on our tipis and our ancestors left their iconography on the landscape
The sky world is at the apex
The lost boys
The seven siblings
Stone alignmentsFeatures a portrait of the first family of the sky. Sun is the father, Moon is the mother and Venus is their sonSun = Naato’siMoon = Ko’komiki’sommVenus is a ‘young man’ hence his name Maanikapi
Blackfoot CalendricsThe Blackfoot year was divided into two seasons: Summer ( Yiipo ) had six moonsThe first moon of summer began when the waxing crescent moon shares the evening sky with the constellation we called ‘the lost boys’Winter ( Ipakssaisstoyi ) had seven moonsWinter started with the autumnal equinox, which they called Aahkiaapiksistsiko or ‘going home day’
Beaver Tales and Tobacco Smoke
Blackfoot people usually buffalo huntersHowever, they did make an exception when they learned to cultivate tobaccoIn Blackfoot mythology, the lunar calendar and knowledge of tobacco cultivation were gifts from the chief of the beaversTheir calendar helped them time their planting
Reconciling solar &
Lunar cycles
Year one Year two Year three
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37
Solar years
Moons
Winter MoonsFirst moon of winter = Awakaasiiki’somm (deer moon)Second = Sa’aksi Itaomatooyi (ducks leave moon)Third = Iitao’tsstoyi (cold weather moon)Fourth = Misamiko’komiaato’s (long night moon)Fifth = Omahksiki’somm (Old moon)Sixth = Piitaiki’somm (Eagle moon)Seventh = Saommitsiki’somm (Deceptive moon)
Summer MoonsFirst = Sa’aiki’somm (Duck moon)Second = Matsiyikkapisaiki’somm (Frog moon)Third = Apistsisskitsaato’s (Flower blossom moon)Fourth = Ito’tsisamssootaa (Long rain)Fifth = Okonokistsi Otsitsi’tssp (Saskatoons ripen)Sixth = Iitayiitsimaahkao’p (prepare food for storage)
Moon Watching
They use this metaphor of birth and death to describe the phases of the moon Waxing moon = Inakoi (little one)Full moon = Iksistto’simWaning moon = Omino’toohsi (growing old)Last sliver before new moon = I’ni (dies)
Dusty Stars Lost
Boys
Miohpokoiksi
‘The Lost Boys’ aka the Dusty Stars
The lost boys and buffalo jumpsA family with several boys join the hunting camp but they arrive late and learn that there are too few buffalo calves to make clothing for all the children so only family with girls get the soft hides of new born buffalo calvesAfter the successful hunt the boys feel slighted that they will not get any robes for their clothingIn their anger they escape the earth and go to the sky countryWhen they get their they are found by Moon who intervenes on their behalf and convinces her husband Sun to let them stay and become star people
Blackfoot sky watchers Naked eye astronomers assumed the earth was flat and it was parallel to a flat skyworld
Calibrating the Buffalo year*** the lost boys in space
Organizing the night skyOral narratives and metaphors were associated with starsThe night sky was a massive mnemonic deviceEach star was equivalent to a personClusters and constellations were familiesStellar calendars gave people some control over their environment and thus they could plan well in advanceMoons created a calendar to keep track of time over long periods such as wintercountsMoon phases were time keeping devices