Article ID: CBB653546485

Reconstructing the star knowledge of Aboriginal Tasmanians (2016)

unapi

The canopy of stars is a central presence in the daily and spiritual lives of Aboriginal Tasmanians. With the arrival of European colonists, Tasmanian astronomical knowledge and traditions were interrupted and dispersed. Fragments can be found scattered in the ethnographic and historical record throughout the nineteenth century. We draw from these ethnohistorical documents to analyse and reconstruct Aboriginal astronomical knowledge in Tasmania. This analysis demonstrates that stars, the Milky Way, constellations, dark nebula, the Sun, Moon, meteors and aurorae held cultural, spiritual and subsistence significance for the Aboriginal cultures of Tasmania. We move beyond a monolithic view of Aboriginal astronomical knowledge in Tasmania, commonly portrayed in previous research, to lay the groundwork for future ethnographic and archaeological fieldwork with Aboriginal elders and communities.

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https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB653546485/

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Authors & Contributors
Hamacher, Duane W.
Ashby, Jack
Bluea, Gwendolyn
Bratton, Mark
Douglas, Bronwen
Holmberg, Gustav
Journals
Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage
American Quarterly
Archives of Natural History
Historical Records of Australian Science
HOST: Journal of History of Science and Technology
Imago Mundi: A Review of Early Cartography
Publishers
Cambridge University Press
Allen & Unwin
Lund University
Thames & Hudson
University of Texas Press
Vanderbilt University Press
Concepts
Indigenous peoples; indigeneity
Traditional knowledge
Stars; stellar astronomy
Astronomy
Galaxies; nebulae
Colonialism
People
Herschel, William
Baudin, Nicolas
Dampier, William
Flinders, Matthew
Herschel, Caroline
Herschel, John Frederick William
Time Periods
19th century
18th century
16th century
21st century
17th century
20th century
Places
Australia
Tasmania (Australia)
United States
Brazil
Great Britain
India
Institutions
Sydney Observatory
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