There are many resources. This is just the start of a respectful journey into many ways of knowing.
https://asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/youth-educators/objective-moon/indigenous-moon.asp
Tipiskawi Pisim (Moon)
By Wilfred Buck, Researcher and Knowledge Keeper
Opaskwayak Cree Nation, Manitoba
Every culture on the face of the Earth sees the Moon in a very unique way and each has stories about the Moon and its various faces, that it shows us throughout the month.
Throughout the Americas, the Moon and the Sun were very central to the people’s lives. Both the Moon and the Sun held prominent places in the lives, beliefs, ceremonies and understandings of the people.
One aspect regarding the Moon was the passage of time. For most cultures in the Americas, the passage of time was noted with the cycle of the moons.
From the full Moon cycles, it was noted that certain things happened in the environment. The weather, plants, animals and temperature seemed to follow the cycles of the Moon. One of the patterns that became apparent was that there were 13 full moons that occurred before everything seemed to start all over again. Thus a 13 moon cycle was identified.
When Europeans made contact with the First Nations peoples of the Americas, it was evident that some Indigenous peoples followed a lunar calendar depicted on the back of a turtle’s shell. Turtle shells have 28 smaller outer edge scutes, representing the number of days from one full Moon to the next, and 13 larger central scutes, representing the 13 moon cycles. The turtle (Mikinak Ministik) held a special place in the various cultures of Indigenous people. One of the origins of the term Turtle Island is the lunar calendar.
https://asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/youth-educators/objective-moon/thirteen-moons.asp
The Tipiskawi Pisim (the Night Sun, the Moon) stories below are from an Ininew (Cree) perspective. Stories from other Indigenous communities will be added to this page.
https://asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/youth-educators/objective-moon/cakapis-little-boy-on-the-moon.asp
https://asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/youth-educators/objective-moon/cakapiw-man-on-the-moon.asp
More from Wilfred Buck.
Legends of the Northern Sky, a full-dome digital projection film. You can watch a trailer for the movie here:
The movie includes a number of stories, from Ocek the fisher to a story about the big hole in the sky, also known as Pleiades, the Seven Sisters. “The Pleiades are a very interesting group of stars,” Buck said. “When they’re talking about a hole in the sky, they’re referring to spatial anomalies, wormholes, they’re talking about alternate realities here.”
Here is a link from the Canadian Museum of Civilization.
https://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/aborig/fp/fpz2f22e.html
For the Haudenosaunee, the earth was created through the interplay of elements from the sky and waters.
The different Iroquoian-speaking peoples tell slightly different versions of the creation story, which begins with Sky Woman falling from the sky.
There is a large and glorious art work at the Canadian Museum showing this story.
Long before the world was created, there was an island in the sky inhabited by sky people. One day a pregnant sky woman drops through a hole created by an uprooted tree and begins to fall for what seems like eternity.
Coming out of darkness, she eventually sees oceans. The animals from this world congregate, trying to understand what they see in the sky. A flock of birds is sent to help her. The birds catch her and gently guide her down onto the back of Great Turtle. The water animals like otter and beaver have prepared a place for her on turtle’s back. They bring mud from the bottom of the ocean and place it on turtle’s back until solid earth begins to form and increase in size.
Turtle’s back becomes Sky Woman’s home and the plants she’s brought down with her from Skyworld, including tobacco and strawberries, are her medicine. She makes a life for herself and becomes the mother of Haudenosaunee life, as we know it today.
Shelley Niro, Kanien’kehaka, 1999
Keller George, Oneida Haudenosaunee, 2001
Alan Brant, Tyendinaga, 2001
The Oneida Indian Nation is an indigenous nation of American Indian people whose sacred and sovereign homelands are located in what is now called Central New York State, United States of America.
You can learn more about this nation at www.oneidaindiannation.com
The Haudenosaunee have always recognized that people are complex, possessing both good and bad qualities. The Creation story serves as a reminder: no human is flawless– the Great Spirit alone is perfect.
Keller George, Wolf Clan Member of the Nation’s Council, recounts a story his maternal great-grandmother told him about the birth of the Evil Spirit and the Good Spirit.
When you think about the night sky, what constellations come to mind? Chances are they’re rooted in Western astronomy. But Indigenous astronomy and scientific knowledge have been here for millennia. It just hasn’t been taught in schools, or considered important within universities. Hilding Neilson is working to change that. Neilson is Mi’kmaw and a professor in the department of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Toronto.
When Sharon Shorty sees the northern lights, she recalls a story her grandmother told her.
Sandra Laronde created and directed Trace, a performance inspired by Anishinaabe sky and star stories. Laronde is the founder of Red Sky Performance, an Indigenous dance, theatre, and music company. Trace has been performed throughout Canada, and the international tour is scheduled to start in the fall of 2021.
Métis filmmaker Shane Belcourt‘s latest film, Red Rover, is a romantic comedyabout the search for meaning through space travel. The film also makes connections between space exploration and colonization.
Chickasaw astronaut John Herrington was the first Native American to fly in space. And he’s dedicated much of his life to encouraging Indigenous kids to follow their dreams.
One of the music tracks in the show is “Sky Woman” performed by Anachnid. Here is a link to their performance on Youtube.
Douglas College Astronomy 1105 Copyright © 2017 by Douglas College Department of Physics and Astronomy, Open Stax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
