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New View of the Stories in the Stars On the Great Plains, the Skidi Band of the Pawnee nation used the stars to help them
grow crops, raise families and hunt buffalo. Their mud lodges were observatories, and they believed the planets,
stars and constellation patterns guided all aspects of life. The Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum will begin presenting a very different
kind of show, "Spirits from the Sky: Thunder on the Land." The $1 million project, launched with the help of Pawnee Tribal Elders, is extraordinary
for an American planetarium, for it views the heavens through the lens of multiculturalism. For centuries, Western astronomers have mapped out the sky with constellations based
on Greek mythology and using Latin names. But other cultures also saw shapes of animals and objects formed by the
stars of the night sky. As in some other cultures, Skidi myths are inspired by real observations of the cosmos,
and the motions of the stars created a calendar for Pawnee life. "What impresses me the most was that they would look up at the sky overhead and
certain stars at dawn would tell them when it was time to plant," said Phyllis Pitluga, an astronomer and
the project director. Several months later, a different group of stars overhead at dawn told them when to go on
a buffalo hunt." Planetariums are now recognizing multiculturalism in astronomy and acknowledging that
there are other names and beliefs associated with the stars. But the Adler project is the broadest look at another
culture's astronomy and the first to work so extensively with a particular group. Becky Eppler, one of about 100 members of the Skidi Band and a project consultant,
said she learned the constellations and the history they told from her aunt, who learned them from her grandmother. "To me it is not a myth but a way of life," Eppler said. "If it wasn't
so, we wouldn't have any Skidi today. When I go out and look at the stars, what comes to mind is the stories behind
those stars." Eppler said today the Skidi do not typically observe the stars as their ancestors did.
But she said some elders still wake early in the morning, face east and pray to the rising morning star. The sky show explains many Skidi traditions, including the creation story: The great
spirit, Tirawahat, appointed two star deities, and they created the universe. Great Red Star--ruddy Mars-- planned
creation, and Eric Carlson, astronomer emeritus at the Adler and author of the project's guidebook,
said it is difficult for most people to understand how awesome the stars are over the Great Plains when they aren't
competing with city lights. Mary Ann Bloom, volunteer coordinator of the education department at the Field Museum
of Natural History, said many groups use creation stories to explain the unexplainable. Bloom said she considers
the Skidi Pawnee Band to be astronomers because they studied the constellations very closely and named the stars. "People are very creative and have different responses to their common concerns,"
she said. "All have different creation stories that tell them where they came from and explains things. They
are looking around the N. Scott Momaday, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and Native American activist, will
speak at the planetarium at 7 p.m. Sunday in conjunction with the opening of the star show. Astronomy is important to many Native American cultures, including the Navajo and Pueblo,
Momaday said. "When I speak about oral tradition, I like to talk about the importance of believing
that the stories are true in some sense," he said. Spacetalk-Pawnee Sky Observations Pawnee Nation
Planetarium Tells Pawnee Sky Tales
by Olivia Clarke, Tribune Staff Writer
When some
look up at the night sky, they see only a chaos of glowing stars and darkness. For the ancestors of the Skidi Pawnee,
the stars, viewed through the smoke holes of their earth lodges, defined their existence.
To the
Skidi Pawnee Band, the North Star was Chief Star; Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, was the Wolf Star; the
delicate cluster of stars that makes up the Pleiades was the Seven Brothers of Unity; and Corona Borealis, a semicircle
of stars that Westerners see as a crown, was called the Council of Chiefs.
Bright Star--brilliant Venus--fulfilled that creation. The first girl was born after these star deities joined.
The first boy was born of the union of moon and sun.
"When
the only thing visible at night is that sky and the objects in it, you are going to wonder about it," he said.
"Gradually they built up stories to explain the wonders they saw."
environment and finding an explanation for things."
http://hoa.aavso.org/spacetalk.htm
http://www.pawneenation.org/
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