In Search of

Aboriginal

Astronomy Were the Aboriginal Australians the world's first astronomers? By Ray Norris

WHEN

THE BRITISH

First Fleet arrived in Austra-

lia in 1788, their navigators probably knew less about the southern sky than many of the Aboriginal people who they drove from their land. Sadly, nobody thought to ask. The British settlers and convicts weren't interested in the many rich and vibrant Aboriginal cultures, each with its own customs, folklore, and language. Only recently have most of us appreciated the deep vein of astronomy threading through the Aboriginal stories and ceremonies. With hindsight, we shouldn't be surprised. To those living in Australia thousands of years ago, under the magnificent river of the Milky Way threading through a coal-black sky, the heavens were an integral part of their world. It would have been obvious that particular stars were visible only at certain times of the year and would help navigation through the cool of the night. Even more important would be the belief, shared by most Aboriginal cultures, that the world was created in the "Dreaming" by ancestral spirits who have left their mark all around us. Those who can understand these symbols have a complete understanding of the world and the rules by which one should live - a sort of user manual for living. The night sky would be an important chapter of this manual. Since the 50,000 year-old Aboriginal cultures are far older than Stonehenge or the Pyramids, it is sometimes said that "the Australian Aborigines were the world's first astronomers". Is this statement correct? Quite apart from the assumption of a static culture, the word "astronomy" implies more than just 20

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recognising a few stars. It implies a quest to understand the patterns in the sky, the motion of the Sun and Moon, phenomena like eclipses, and whether events in the sky are connected to those on Earth. Can we find evidence for such a deep interest amongst traditional Aboriginal people?

Sun, Moon, and eclipses The Yolngu people, in the far north of Australia, tell how Walu, the Sun-woman, lights a fire each morning, bringing us dawn. She decorates herself with red ochre, some of which spills onto the clouds, colouring the sunrise. Then she carries her blazing torch across the sky from east to west, creating daylight. As she descends to the western horizon, spilling red ochre at sunset, she extinguishes her torch, and starts the long journey underground back to the morning camp in the east. The Moon, named Ngalindi in the Yolngu language, was a fat lazy man (corresponding to the full Moon) with two wives and two sons, whom he expected to feed Far Left: The Yolngu constellation of Djulpan, known to Europeans as Orion. Betelgeuse is the bow of a canoe, Rigel the stern, and the three stars of Or ion's belt are the brothers sitting in it. The Orion Nebula is the fish still trailing in the water on its line. Left: An engraving from Kuring-gai Chase National Park, showing a man and woman reaching up to a crescent.

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• A morning star pole, created by Richard Garrawurra. The tuft of Magpie-goose feathers at the top represents Venus, and the other feathers represent nearby stars, and other clans.

Just a few kilometres from the centre of Sydney lies Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, once home to the Guringai people, who have left behind thousands of beautiful sacred rock engravings depicting the Dreaming ancestors, and images of the animals and fish that abound in and around the Park. Some of these images show a man and woman reaching up to a boomerang in the sky. But is it a boomerang? Boomerangs rarely have pointed ends, and usually have two straight lengths rather than a single curved crescent. And how often do a man and woman and look after him. He became angry with his sons for not sharing their food, and killed them. When his wives found out, they attacked him with their axes, chopping bits off him, giving us the waning Moon. While trying to escape by following the Sun, he climbed a tall tree, but was mortally wounded, and died (the new Moon). After remaining dead for 3 days, he rose again, growing fat and round (the waxing Moon), until, after two weeks his wives attacked him again. To this day, the cycle continues every month. The Yolngu stories even explain why the Moon is associated with tides. When the tides are high, the water pours into the Moon as it rises, creating a full Moon. As the water runs out of the Moon, the tides fall. Then the tide rises once more, refilling the Moon. So, although the mechanics are a little different from our modern version, this story shows that traditional Yolngu people fully understood the relationship of the Moon to the tides. This depth of knowledge is reflected in stories about eclipses. The Warlpiri people say a solar eclipse happens when the Sun-woman is hidden by the Moon-man as he makes love to her. On the other hand, a lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon-man is pursued and overtaken by the Sun-woman. These two stories demonstrate that traditional Aboriginal people had already figured out that eclipses were caused by a conjunction between the Sun and Moon moving on different paths across the sky, occasionally intersecting. Nor is this understanding confined to the Warlpiri people. The eccentric Englishwoman Daisy Bates, living in the desert in her starched blouse and lace-up boots, recounted primly how, during the solar eclipse of 1922, the Wirangu people told her that the eclipse was caused when the Sun and Moon became "guri-arra - husband and wife together." 22

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