DOCSLIB.ORG

The Sky of Knowledge

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Sky of Knowledge The Sky of Knowledge A Study of the Ethnoastronomy of the Aboriginal People of Australia Thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Philosophy by Serena Fredrick Department of Archaeology and Ancient History University of Leicester 2008 Abstract The Sky of Knowledge: A Study of the Ethnoastronomy of the Aboriginal people of Australia Serena Fredrick Aboriginal Australia encompasses a diverse range of cultures, each of which has developed in a distinct landscape and environment. Most cultures cultivate their own astronomy as a response to the surrounding environmental conditions. This work is a study of the accounts of Aboriginal astronomy that have been recorded over the last two hundred years. An in- depth review of the main contributors to the subject, their unique biases and their influence over Aboriginal astronomy is examined. Many of the common perceptions of Aboriginal astronomy are based on stories that were recorded over a hundred years ago and have been misinterpreted several times during the course of the last century. These errors are investigated and corrected. In total, the ethnographers and anthropologists recorded over five hundred stories and they are brought together here for the first time. Stories originate from every region in Australia and cover many objects and phenomena in the night sky. Each story is classified according to the object, location and source, allowing a direct comparison of related material. The aim of this research is to demonstrate where the differences and similarities arise within three distinct areas of Australia; the tropical north, the central desert and the temperate south. The analysis of the material focuses on each object individually and how it was perceived in each of the three environmental zones. The main themes discussed centre around the characters involved in each of the stories, how they are depicted in the sky and in the creation of Aboriginal constellations. The results of the analysis demonstrate the close connection between the land and the sky in the Aboriginal world and that in many areas of Australia the sky is simply a reflection of the land. ii Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor, Professor Clive Ruggles, whose guidance made it possible to complete this research. I would also like to thank the Aboriginal communities and individuals in Australia who offered me so much help and advice during the course of this work. This research would not have been possible without the encouraging and patient support of Gillian and Alison Fredrick. I declare that this research is entirely my own, conducted during a four-year period of registration at the University of Leicester. iii Contents Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. iii Contents .................................................................................................................................... iv List of Figures ........................................................................................................................ viii List of Tables ............................................................................................................................ xi 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Background ............................................................................................................. 2 1.2. The Dreaming .......................................................................................................... 2 1.3. Problems with the Data ........................................................................................... 4 1.4. Summary ................................................................................................................. 6 2. Methodology .................................................................................................................... 7 2.1. Data collection ......................................................................................................... 7 2.2. Data classification by location ................................................................................ 9 2.3. Data classification by object ................................................................................. 12 2.4. Summary ............................................................................................................... 13 3. Ethnographer Review ..................................................................................................... 14 3.1. Background ........................................................................................................... 14 3.2. William Stanbridge ............................................................................................... 16 3.3. William Ridley ...................................................................................................... 18 3.4. James Dawson ....................................................................................................... 19 3.5. Alfred William Howitt .......................................................................................... 21 3.6. Katherine Langloh Parker ..................................................................................... 22 3.7. Walter Baldwin Spencer and Francis J. Gillen ..................................................... 23 3.8. Carl Strehlow ......................................................................................................... 24 3.9. Daisy Bates ............................................................................................................ 25 3.10. Norman B. Tindale ................................................................................................ 26 3.11. Charles Mountford ................................................................................................ 28 3.12. Brian G. Maegraith ................................................................................................ 30 3.13. Review Summary .................................................................................................. 33 4. Analysis .......................................................................................................................... 34 4.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................... 34 iv 4.2. The Moon .............................................................................................................. 37 4.2.1. South .......................................................................................................... 37 4.2.2. Central ....................................................................................................... 40 4.2.3. North .......................................................................................................... 41 4.2.4. Boomerangs, Rib Bones and Changing Phases ......................................... 43 4.2.5. Summary ................................................................................................... 44 4.3. The Sun ................................................................................................................. 46 4.3.1. South .......................................................................................................... 47 4.3.2. Central ....................................................................................................... 47 4.3.3. North .......................................................................................................... 48 4.3.4. Summary ................................................................................................... 50 4.4. The Sun and the Moon .......................................................................................... 52 4.4.1. South .......................................................................................................... 52 4.4.2. Central ....................................................................................................... 53 4.4.3. North .......................................................................................................... 53 4.4.4. Summary ................................................................................................... 54 4.5. Orion and the Pleiades ........................................................................................... 56 4.5.1. South .......................................................................................................... 58 4.5.2. Central ....................................................................................................... 60 4.5.3. North .......................................................................................................... 61 4.5.4. Other Accounts .......................................................................................... 63 4.5.5. Summary ................................................................................................... 66 4.6. The Southern Cross, the Pointers and the Coal Sack ............................................ 67 4.6.1. South .......................................................................................................... 68 4.6.2. Central ......................................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • German Lutheran Missionaries and the Linguistic Description of Central Australian Languages 1890-1910
    German Lutheran Missionaries and the linguistic description of Central Australian languages 1890-1910 David Campbell Moore B.A. (Hons.), M.A. This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of The University of Western Australia School of Social Sciences Linguistics 2019 ii Thesis Declaration I, David Campbell Moore, certify that: This thesis has been substantially accomplished during enrolment in this degree. This thesis does not contain material which has been submitted for the award of any other degree or diploma in my name, in any university or other tertiary institution. In the future, no part of this thesis will be used in a submission in my name, for any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution without the prior approval of The University of Western Australia and where applicable, any partner institution responsible for the joint-award of this degree. This thesis does not contain any material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text and, where relevant, in the Authorship Declaration that follows. This thesis does not violate or infringe any copyright, trademark, patent, or other rights whatsoever of any person. This thesis contains published work and/or work prepared for publication, some of which has been co-authored. Signature: 15th March 2019 iii Abstract This thesis establishes a basis for the scholarly interpretation and evaluation of early missionary descriptions of Aranda language by relating it to the missionaries’ training, to their goals, and to the theoretical and broader intellectual context of contemporary Germany and Australia.
    [Show full text]
  • Aboriginal Spatial Organization in the Study Area
    IN QUEST OF NARGUN AND NYOLS: A HISTORY OF INDIGENOUS TOURISM AT THE BUCHAN CAVES RESERVE – Associate Professor Ian D. Clark ABSTRACT description of Duke, O’Rourke, and Dickson (Dixon) caves, and the Spring Creek, Wilson This paper is concerned to document tourism and Creek, and Murrindal caves. He recommended indigenous heritage values associated with the that the Buchan Caves be developed as a tourist Buchan Caves Reserve in Gippsland, Victoria, attraction, along the lines of the Jenolan Caves in Australia. It shows that indigenous values have New South Wales. Stirling made ground plans of not been at the forefront of the development of the the Buchan and neighbouring caves and heliotype tourism product at the Buchan Reserve. The plates from the expedition photographs by J H inattention to Aboriginal values within the Harvey, illustrating views in Wilson and Dickson development of tourism may best be understood caves. The status of these photographs (and as a structural matter, a view from a window others by Harvey not published in the report) has which has been carefully placed to exclude a long been seen as being the first – but a much whole quadrant of the landscape. Indigenous earlier photograph has now come to light and its values of places were rarely discussed because provenance is currently being sought for they were not in the eye of the vision, ‘out of sight’ confirmation (E Hamilton-Smith pers. comm. and ‘out of mind’. Indigenous tourism at Buchan 17/5/2007). does not challenge this understanding. INTRODUCTION This paper is concerned to document tourism and indigenous heritage values associated with the Buchan Caves Reserve in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia.
    [Show full text]
  • Australia's National Heritage
    AUSTRALIA’S australia’s national heritage © Commonwealth of Australia, 2010 Published by the Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts ISBN: 978-1-921733-02-4 Information in this document may be copied for personal use or published for educational purposes, provided that any extracts are fully acknowledged. Heritage Division Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts GPO Box 787 Canberra ACT 2601 Australia Email [email protected] Phone 1800 803 772 Images used throughout are © Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts and associated photographers unless otherwise noted. Front cover images courtesy: Botanic Gardens Trust, Joe Shemesh, Brickendon Estate, Stuart Cohen, iStockphoto Back cover: AGAD, GBRMPA, iStockphoto “Our heritage provides an enduring golden thread that binds our diverse past with our life today and the stories of tomorrow.” Anonymous Willandra Lakes Region II AUSTRALIA’S NATIONAL HERITAGE A message from the Minister Welcome to the second edition of Australia’s National Heritage celebrating the 87 special places on Australia’s National Heritage List. Australia’s heritage places are a source of great national pride. Each and every site tells a unique Australian story. These places and stories have laid the foundations of our shared national identity upon which our communities are built. The treasured places and their stories featured throughout this book represent Australia’s remarkably diverse natural environment. Places such as the Glass House Mountains and the picturesque Australian Alps. Other places celebrate Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture—the world’s oldest continuous culture on earth—through places such as the Brewarrina Fish Traps and Mount William Stone Hatchet Quarry.
    [Show full text]
  • Ethnographic Film-Making in Australia: the First Seventy Years
    ETHNOGRAPHIC FILM-MAKING IN AUSTRALIA THE FIRST SEVENTY YEARS (1898-1968) Ian Dunlop Ethnographic film-making is almost as old as cinema itself.1 In 187 7 Edison, in America, perfected his phonograph, the world’s first machine for recording sound — on fragile wax cylinders. He then started experimenting with ways of producing moving pictures. Others in England and France were also experimenting at the same time. Amongst these were the Lumiere brothers of Paris. In 1895 they perfected a projection machine and gave the world’s first public screening. The cinema was born. The same year Felix-Louis Renault filmed a Wolof woman from west Africa making pots at the Exposition Ethnographique de l’Afrique Occidentale in Paris.2 Three years later ethnographic film was being shot in the Torres Strait Islands just north of mainland Australia. This was in 1898 when Alfred Cort Haddon, an English zoologist and anthro­ pologist, mounted his Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to the Torres Strait. His recording equipment included a wax cylinder sound recorder and a Lumiere camera. The technical genius of the expedition, and the man who apparently used the camera, was Anthony Wilkin.3 It is not known how much film he shot; unfortunately only about four minutes of it still exists. It is the first known ethnographic film to be shot in the field anywhere in the world. It is of course black and white, shot on one of the world’s first cameras, with a handle you had to turn to make the film go rather shakily around. The fragment we have shows several rather posed shots of men dancing and another of men attempting to make fire by friction.
    [Show full text]
  • Submission Cover Sheets
    Submission Cover Sheet Fingerboards Mineral Sands Project Inquiry and Advisory 204 Committee - EES Request to be heard?: No Full Name: Tracey Solomon Organisation: Affected property: Attachment 1: Mining_Letter_re_ Attachment 2: Appendix_1-11.pd Attachment 3: Comments: see attached submission 25 October 2020 Dear Inquiry and Advisory Committee members, Re: Fingerboards Mineral Sands Project Environment Effects Statement August 2020 Appendix A017 Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment In your position you relay on current, relevant and accurate data to make an informed decision on what projects are sustainable, viable and in the best interests of the community both economically and socially. You will receive many submissions of opposition to this proposal as it will have an impact socially and economically on the region as the location of the mine is in a primary production area. I would like to address important public data missing from the A017 Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment so you can gain a clear picture of what information has been given on the area. STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT Extract Appendix A017 3.3 Stakeholder Engagement While Aboriginal and historical cultural heritage is of interest to several key stakeholders and regulators, it has not generated significant community interest despite the project team including information about all aspects of the project’s construction and operation in publications and other information about the project. To better establish these values, a Cultural Values Workshop was held in December 2018. Due
    [Show full text]
  • A Distinctive Voice in the Antipodes: Essays in Honour of Stephen A. Wild
    ESSAYS IN HONOUR OF STEPHEN A. WILD Stephen A. Wild Source: Kim Woo, 2015 ESSAYS IN HONOUR OF STEPHEN A. WILD EDITED BY KIRSTY GILLESPIE, SALLY TRELOYN AND DON NILES Published by ANU Press The Australian National University Acton ACT 2601, Australia Email: [email protected] This title is also available online at press.anu.edu.au National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Title: A distinctive voice in the antipodes : essays in honour of Stephen A. Wild / editors: Kirsty Gillespie ; Sally Treloyn ; Don Niles. ISBN: 9781760461119 (paperback) 9781760461126 (ebook) Subjects: Wild, Stephen. Essays. Festschriften. Music--Oceania. Dance--Oceania. Aboriginal Australian--Songs and music. Other Creators/Contributors: Gillespie, Kirsty, editor. Treloyn, Sally, editor. Niles, Don, editor. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Cover design and layout by ANU Press. Cover photograph: ‘Stephen making a presentation to Anbarra people at a rom ceremony in Canberra, 1995’ (Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies). This edition © 2017 ANU Press A publication of the International Council for Traditional Music Study Group on Music and Dance of Oceania. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this book contains images and names of deceased persons. Care should be taken while reading and viewing. Contents Acknowledgements . vii Foreword . xi Svanibor Pettan Preface . xv Brian Diettrich Stephen A . Wild: A Distinctive Voice in the Antipodes . 1 Kirsty Gillespie, Sally Treloyn, Kim Woo and Don Niles Festschrift Background and Contents .
    [Show full text]
  • Commonwealth of Australia
    COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Copyright Regulations 1969 Warning This material has been reproduced and communicated to you by or on behalf of The Charles Darwin University with permission from the author(s). Any further reproduction or communication of this material by you may be the subject of copyright protection under the Act. Do not remove this notice Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander THESAURUS First edition by Heather Moorcroft and Alana Garwood 1996 Acknowledgements ATSILIRN conference delegates for the 1st and 2nd conferences. Alex Byrne, Melissa Jackson, Helen Flanders, Ronald Briggs, Julie Day, Angela Sloan, Cathy Frankland, Andrew Wilson, Loris Williams, Alan Barnes, Jeremy Hodes, Nancy Sailor, Sandra Henderson, Lenore Kennedy, Vera Dunn, Julia Trainor, Rob Curry, Martin Flynn, Dave Thomas, Geraldine Triffitt, Bill Perrett, Michael Christie, Robyn Williams, Sue Stanton, Terry Kessaris, Fay Corbett, Felicity Williams, Michael Cooke, Ely White, Ken Stagg, Pat Torres, Gloria Munkford, Marcia Langton, Joanna Sassoon, Michael Loos, Meryl Cracknell, Maggie Travers, Jacklyn Miller, Andrea McKey, Lynn Shirley, Xalid Abd-ul-Wahid, Pat Brady, Sau Foster, Barbara Lewancamp, Geoff Shepardson, Colleen Pyne, Giles Martin, Herbert Compton Preface Over the past months I have received many queries like "When will the thesaurus be available", or "When can I use it". Well here it is. At last the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Thesaurus, is ready. However, although this edition is ready, I foresee that there will be a need for another and another, because language is fluid and will change over time. As one of the compilers of the thesaurus I am glad it is finally completed and available for use.
    [Show full text]
  • Historical Books
    Historical Books Whilst research was being conducted for the Portal, complete copies of several very important and significant books were found to be available on-line, generally for reading on-line. These books are not housed on the ALV-RP, but can be accessed by clicking on the links below. Bunce, Daniel. 1859. Language of the aborigines of the Colony of Victoria and other Australian districts : with parallel translations and familiar specimens in dialogue, as a guide to aboriginal protectors and others engaged in ameliorating their condition. Geelong: T. Brown. Online at http://www.archive.org/details/languageofaborig00buncrich Curr, Edward M. 1887. The Australian Race. Melbourne: John Ferres, Government Printer. Vol 3. Online at http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924026093835#page/n0/mode/2up Dawes, William.1787-1788 The notebooks of Lieutenant William Dawes on the Aboriginal lanygauges of Sydney (The Aboriginal language of Sydney is one of many Indigenous languages spoken in Australia.) Online at http://www.williamdawes.org/index.html Dawson, James. 1881. Australian aborigines : the languages and customs of several tribes of aborigines in the western district of Victoria, Australia. Canberra: AIAS. Oniine at http://www.archive.org/details/australianabori00dawsgoog Eyre, Edward John. 1845. Journals of Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia and Overland from Adelaide to King George's Sound in the Years 1840-1: Sent By the Colonists of South Australia, with the Sanction and Support of the Government: Including an Account of the Manners and Customs of the Aborigines and the State of Their Relations with Europeans — Volume 02 Online at http://www.gutenberg.org/files/5345/5345-h/5345-h.htm Fison, Lorimer and Alfred William Howitt.
    [Show full text]
  • Conservation and the Australian Alps Factsheet
    Long ago the Creator made the land, the CONSERVATION people and the natu- ral resources for the people to use. Spirit IN THE AUSTRALIAN ancestors traveled the land and left behind AUSTRALIANALPS ALPS reminders of where they had been, whom they had met and what they had been doing in the form of plants, animals and landforms. There are stories, songs, dances and ceremonies as- sociated with these places, plants and animals. When we see the stars, moun- tains, rivers, hills, plants and animals we remember the stories of the journeys and we know how to live in this country. This is our culture. text: Rod Mason illustration: Jim Williams Conservation refers to the protection, preservation and careful management of the natural Conservation: or cultural environment. This includes the preservation of specific sites or works of art, as a definition well as specific species or areas of country. However, conservation has a different meaning for different people, thus making the management of conservation often complex and controversial. Many of the conservation issues of the Australian Alps reflect these difficulties. For the person who enjoys wilder- ness, conservation is the reservation of large, unspoilt tracts of land. For the scientist, it is the preservation and understanding of ecosystems and the protection of species found there. For bushwalkers and other outdoor recreationists it is conserving natural places that provide opportunities and challenges including mountains to climb, rivers to raft or slopes to ski. For the town planner, it is the protection of natural areas for practical reasons such as water catchment in the Australian Alps.
    [Show full text]
  • RH Mathews and Anthropological Warfare: on Writing the Biography of a ‘Self-Contained Man’
    RH Mathews and anthropological warfare: on writing the biography of a ‘self-contained man’ Martin Thomas Introduction: the biographical lacuna It is now almost three decades since AP Elkin published in Oceania a three-part article titled ‘RH Mathews: his contribution to Aboriginal studies’.1 Recently I have been pur- suing my own research into Mathews, gathering material for a book that Elkin, had he found the time, might well have written: a biographical study of the surveyor-turned- anthropologist. To use a term that Mathews once employed for extracting information from informants, I have found it a process of ‘long & patient hammering’.2 Although Mathews’ anthropological career, which lasted from the early 1890s until his death in 1918, gives him presence in a wealth of documentary records, he remains a difficult quarry for the biographer. The problems I have encountered in coming to grips with his life history are due in part to his extreme reticence in all matters personal. In the words of his son William, RH Mathews was a ‘self-contained man’.3 In that regard he substantiates a sage obser- vation on the part of Claude Lévi-Strauss — that a calling to anthropology allows an individual in ‘an initial state of detachment’ to find advantage when approaching dif- ferent societies ‘since he is already halfway towards them’.4 In his own society Mathews was probably long inured to a degree of personal and intellectual isolation, though it was undoubtedly exacerbated by his exceedingly hostile relations with other members of the small anthropological fraternity in Federation-era Australia.
    [Show full text]
  • Final Report
    final report knowledge for managing Australian landscapes Kantri is for Laif (Country is for Life) A Strategy for the Promotion of Indigenous Knowledge and the Development of Indigenous Livelihoods on the Remote north Australian Indigenous Estate. A Land & Water Australia, CRC-TSM and NAILSMA Project Initiative Published by Land & Water Australia Product Code PN30198 Postal address GPO Box 2182, Canberra ACT 2601 Office location Level 1, The Phoenix 86 Northbourne Avenue, Braddon ACT 2612 Telephone 02 6263 6000 Email [email protected] Internet www.lwa.gov.au © Commonwealth of Australia, July 2009 Disclaimer The information contained in this publication is intended for general use, to assist public knowledge and discussion and to help improve the sustainable management of land, water and vegetation. It includes general statements based on scientific research. Readers are advised and need to be aware that this information may be incomplete or unsuitable for use in specific situations. Before taking any action or decision based on the information in this publication, readers should seek expert professional, scientific and technical advice and form their own view of the applicability and correctness of the information. To the extent permitted by law, the Commonwealth of Australia, Land & Water Australia (including its employees and consultants), and the authors of this publication do not assume liability of any kind whatsoever resulting from any person’s use or reliance upon the content of this publication. Kantri is for Laif (Country is for Life) Na‐ja narnu‐yuwa narnu‐walkurra barra, wirrimalaru, barni‐wardimantha, Barni‐ngalngandaya, nakari wabarrangu li‐wankala, li‐ngambalanga kuku, li‐ngambalanga murimuri, li‐ngambalanga ngabuji, li‐ngambalanga kardirdi kalu‐kanthaninya na‐ja narnu‐yuwa, jiwini awarala, anthaa yurrngumantha barra.
    [Show full text]
  • 'Belongs' in the Australian Bush: Aboriginal Responses to 'Introduced'
    Indigeneity, ferality, and what ‘belongs’ in the Australian bush: Aboriginal responses to ‘introduced’ animals and plants in a settler-descendant society David S. Trigger University of Queensland This article investigates responses among Aboriginal people in Australia to animals and plants introduced through the process of British colonization. While there is some rejection of exotic species as emblematic of European dispossession, the article explores cases where certain fauna and flora have been embraced intellectually within Aboriginal cultural traditions. The broader discussion canvasses links in Australia between ideas of ‘nativeness’ in society and nature. If Indigenous people have incorporated non-native species, what are the implications for an Australian identity defined substantially in terms of ‘native’ landscapes? The article considers the significance of non-native nature for flexible constructions of cultural belonging among Aboriginal people in a post-colonial society. The concept of ‘emergent autochthony’ is proposed. Accounts of Indigenous people’s close relationship with native species of plants and animals are so common as to constitute something of a signature genre of writing in anthropology. From the extensive classic literature on totemism (e.g. Durkheim 1976 [1915]; Leach 1967; Lévi-Strauss 1969 [1962]) to more recent ethno-ecology studies discussing ‘Indigenous knowledge’ (e.g. Ellen, Parkes & Bicker 2000;Gragson& Blount 1999; Nazarea 2003), we have a plethora of case studies depicting aboriginal beliefs about the material and spiritual qualities of the natural species with which such cultures are so often intimately familiar. The peoples of the Arctic are perhaps exemplars – where humans and animals share personhood and, indeed, the perceived relationship between them may be understood as a ‘master code’ for their cultures (Fienup-Riordan 1994: 48-9).
    [Show full text]