In Indigenous worldviews -- where humanity, nature, and the spiritual realm are closely connected -- the night sky provides spiritual and navigational guidance, timekeeping, weather prediction, and stories and legends that tell us how to live a proper life. Cultural astronomy, also referred to as archaeoastronomy or ethnoastronomy, explores the distinctive ways that astronomy is culturally embedded in the practices and traditions of various peoples. In this symposium, experts Michael Wassegijig Price, John MacDonald, Gary Urton, and Babatunde Lawal discuss the cultural astronomy traditions of four indigenous regions/cultures: Ojibwe, Inuit, Andean, and African.
For further information, please contact NMAI-SSP@si.edu.
