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Article ID: CBB653546485

Reconstructing the star knowledge of Aboriginal Tasmanians (2016)

Gantevoort, Michelle (Author)
Hamacher, Duane W. (Author)
Lischick, Savannah (Author)

Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage
Volume: 19
Issue: 3
Pages: 327-347
Publication date: 2016
Language: English

URI: https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2016JAHH...19..327G

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Traditional knowledge Science and society Galaxies; nebulae Ethnography and the practice of history Stars; stellar astronomy Indigenous peoples; indigeneity Tasmania (Australia)

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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