Making Astronomy Culturally Relevant Best Practices

Nancy Alima Ali UC Berkeley, Space Sciences Lab, California, USA E-mail: [email protected]

Summary Key Words This article investigates how astronomy can be made relevant to ethnically Cultural Astronomy diverse audiences by integrating astronomical concepts within cultural Archaeoastronomy contexts. A series of Cultural Astronomy workshops is used to illustrate how Public Outreach highlighting the human connection to astronomy makes it easier to relate to. Informal Education

Introduction only effective with ethnic minorities, but also with the Caucasian majority. Feed- Do a Google image search using the term back provided by workshop participants “astronomer” and the first image that comes indicated that highlighting the human con- up is Vermeer’s painting The Astronomer nection to astronomy brings astronomy (Figure 1). Illuminated by soft light falling down to Earth by making it easier to relate through a window, the astronomer is gaz- to. Instead of being remote and incompre- ing at a celestial globe. The next image in hensible, astronomy becomes something the search results is a cartoon of a young that can be experienced every day in a boy gazing through a telescope. This is fol- personal way. lowed by a glow-in-the-dark jigsaw puzzle of a wizard in a fanciful observatory. Keep going and you’ll find a variety of photos Cultural Astronomy of contemporary astronomers sitting in workshops front of computers. What is striking about all these images is that, by and large, all The series of three Cultural Astronomy the astronomers depicted appear to be workshops were offered to the general Caucasian. In fact, the only notable eth- public through the non-credit outreach nic diversity in the first three pages of the division of Windward Community College Google search results is a green alien. Figure 1. The Astronomer by Vermeer. in Kaneohe, Hawaii, USA. The workshop series took place on three Sunday after- This lack of diversity is an indication of the to acknowledge the diversity of the sky- noons in January and February, 2008. face of astronomy that is presented to the gazing heritage. Registration was open to anyone aged general public. Unfortunately, it sends a ten and up, although the vast majority of message that astronomy is an enterprise In an attempt to highlight cultural connec- the participants were adults. In total, 100 specific to one ethnic group, when the truth tions to astronomical knowledge, I created people attended the workshop series. Two is that sky-gazing is a universal human and taught a series of Cultural Astronomy of the workshops were roughly equally endeavour. The overwhelming majority workshops for the general public that attended by males and females, while the of cultures around the world have gazed presented specific astronomical concepts third (which was inadvertently scheduled at the sky and used their observations in within cultural contexts. The underlying during the Super Bowl football game) was daily life (Kelley & Milone, 2004). Consider- premise was that exploring the cultural attended predominantly by females. ing that more than one third of the United connections to astronomy would appeal to States population identifies itself as an segments of the population that might not The workshops were organised thematically ethnic minority (Minckler, 2008), we, as otherwise engage in astronomy education. around the Sun, the Moon and the stars. astronomy communicators, would do well As it turned out, this approach was not Each workshop focused on an astronomi-

• Making Astronomy Culturally Relevant • CAPjournal, No. 9 October 2010 • Page 18 • Making Astronomy Culturally Relevant • CAPjournal, No. 9 October 2010 • Page 19 cal concept related to one of the themes, Participant feedback can apply it to your life.” A third participant exploring the concept from both scientific explained how integrating cultural aspects and cultural perspectives. Each 90-minute In order to assess the effectiveness of makes astronomy “come alive more, rather workshop included a planetarium demon- integrating astronomy and culture as a way than boring you silly with a bunch of math. stration of the astronomical concept, a lec- of engaging minority audiences, workshop Because angles are cute, but who cares? ture component using PowerPoint slides participants were asked to complete a sur- So when you see a reason why somebody and a hands-on activity. Opportunities for vey and were invited to provide feedback would be watching the stars for culture or discussion were sprinkled throughout the through informal focus groups. for navigation or doing planting or for other workshops. purposes, that just means more.” At the end of each workshop, participants The Sun workshop explored the astronomi- completed a paper survey that included a A second theme that emerged was that cal concepts of solstices and equinoxes space for them to list their ethnicity. The of valuing non-European cultures. One within the context of the Native Hawaiian purpose of this was to obtain data regard- participant explained how, in her ­opinion, site Kukaniloko. Kukaniloko is a place ing the attendance of ethnic minorities in the “Just to teach [astronomy] in terms of Euro- that was used by the Hawaiian royalty workshop. The survey did not include pre- pean [culture] is almost offensive. You want as a birthing site, but it also is reported set ethnicity categories, but rather allowed to know how you have value too and how to have astronomical connections. Look- people to write in their response. Eighty- your heritage is equally valid. Everyone ing towards the Waianae Mountains from three percent of workshop participants wants to know their importance. It wasn’t Kukaniloko, the Sun sets over the highest completed the survey. Of the participants just Europeans looking at the sky.” In the point of the mountain range at the equi- who completed the survey, 47% identified case of Hawaii, where much of the tradi- noxes, into the lowest valley of the range at themselves as Caucasian, 38% identified tional knowledge was lost due to the active the winter solstice and at the point where as belonging to two or more ethnicities, 9% suppression of the native language and the mountain range meets the ocean at the as Asian, 4% provided no response and 2% cultural practices in the early 20th century, summer solstice. Investigating the astro- identified as “other” (Figure 2). there is a desire now for people to recon- nomical connections of Kukaniloko gave a nect with their culture. One participant purpose for understanding the observable described how teaching about traditional movement of the Sun along the horizon as knowledge related to the stars is important related to seasonal change. in a larger sense because it is “part of sal- vaging the identity of culture for the kids”. The Moon workshop focused on how the Another participant put it this way: “This is phases of the Moon were used as the basis just another brick in the sense of building of the Hawaiian calendar. The Hawaiian the wall of understanding.” calendar was composed of twelve months that began with the first sighting of the wax- ing crescent Moon and ended with the new Guidelines for integrating Moon (Beckwith, 1932). Since a synodic astronomy and culture month is approximately 29.5 days long, a year in the Hawaiian lunar calendar would Based on the experiences gained from the be approximately 354 days long. However, Cultural Astronomy workshop series, I have the Hawaiian calendar also included a developed three guidelines for integrating Two or more ethnicities Asian Other sidereal year, based on the rising of the astronomy and culture. Caucasian No response Pleiades at sunset (Malo, 1951). Since a sidereal year is approximately 365.25 days Figure 2. Workshop participant ethnicities. 1. Make it relevant long, the Hawaiians must have had some way of intercalating the discrepancy of In addition to the survey, participants were Relevance to your target audience should approximately 11 days. This example pro- invited to linger after the workshops to be a primary consideration in choosing vided an excellent context for exploring the provide feedback during informal focus which cultural contexts and scientific con- nature of the Moon’s orbit around the Earth groups. During the focus groups, par- cepts to integrate. In the case of the Cultural and the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. ticipants responded to question prompts Astronomy workshops, the participants rep- to share their thoughts regarding the value resented a variety of cultural backgrounds, The Stars workshop investigated how of integrating astronomy and culture. In but an interest in Native Hawaiian culture Polaris, also known as the Pole Star, may total, 28 people participated in the focus was shared among all. There is currently have been used in Polynesian celestial groups. The responses that emerged from a great deal of interest in Hawaiian culture navigation. It is well known that the first the focus group participants confirmed the in Hawaii, creating a market for workshops people who came to Hawaii voyaged on value of recognising cultural minority per- and programmes that focus on Hawaiian canoes from Polynesia using only natural spectives of astronomy as a way of engag- culture. This workshop series built on this cues, including the stars, to guide them ing the public. common interest and used it as a spring- (Finney, 1994). The star Polaris is currently board for teaching astronomical concepts. used in Hawaiian navigation as a latitude When asked why they were interested in marker (Polynesian Voyaging Society, cultural astronomy, numerous participants Likewise, the science concepts explored 2008). Because the Polynesian migrations responded that it made astronomy more should be relevant to the target audience. to Hawaii occurred over a period of several understandable by making it easier to In this case, the movement of the Sun hundred years (TenBruggencate, 2006), relate to. In the words of one participant, along the horizon, the phases of the Moon the effect of precession must be taken into “Astronomy is so out there, not here where I and the use of Polaris as a marker of the account when considering how Polaris was live.” Another participant elaborated on this north celestial pole are all concepts that used in navigation. Presenting precession by saying, “It has more meaning for peo- have relevance to Hawaiian culture and within a cultural context provided a reason ple because you can see how [astronomy] can be easily viewed in Hawaii. In contrast, for learning about such an abstract concept. has some kind of help to your life … you Pamela Eastlick (1995) describes trying to teach children in Micronesia how to build world. Cultural understanding of a star may • Minckler, D. 2008, U.S. Minority Popula- sundials, only to discover that the gnomon integrate observations of the star’s colour tion Continues to Grow, from http://www. would need to be about a millimetre high in and seasonal movements with mythologi- america.gov/st/diversity-english/2008/M order to be accurate for Micronesia’s low cal connections that contain historical ele- ay/20080513175840zjsredna0.1815607. latitude. Clearly, sundials are not culturally ments and practical guidance for everyday html, retrieved 28 April 2010 relevant in Micronesia. life. When integrating astronomy with cul- ture, it is important to honour this holistic • Polynesian Voyaging Society, 2008, Poly- 2. Make it authentic way of knowing by drawing connections. nesian Voyaging Society: Education and archive site from http://pvs.kcc.hawaii. In the early 1990s, the Bishop Museum in For example, a holistic exploration of the edu/, Retrieved 22 March 2008. Hawaii held a contest to choose a name for Mayan understanding of the stars Alnitek, the phenomena of the zenith passage of the Rigel and Saiph could highlight the role of • Pukui, M. K. 1974, Place names of Hawaii, Sun. The phrase Lahaina Noon was chosen these stars as symbolising the three stones (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press) because it means “cruel Sun” in Hawaiian of a traditional Mayan cooking hearth, out (Pukui, 1974; Williams, 2005)1. Although the of which comes the mythological smoke of • Pukui, M. K., Haertig, E. W., & Lee, C. A. contest may have been intended to engage creation, which can be seen in the sky as 1972, Nana i ke kumu (Look to the source) the public in astronomy, it ignored the fact the Orion Nebula (Freidel, Schele & Parker, (Vol.1), (Honolulu: Queen Lili’uokalani that the Hawaiian language already had a 1993). Scientific understanding of the stars Children’s Center) term describing the zenith passage of the is integrated with mythology, cosmology Sun. and daily life of the Mayan people. • TenBruggencate, J. 2006, Researchers: East Polynesia settled later [Electronic The Hawaiian term for this phenomena is version], The Honolulu Advertiser, kau ka la i ka lolo (Pukui, 1974)2. It may not Conclusion (Honolulu: Gannett Co, Inc.) be as catchy as Lahaina Noon, but it is certainly a more authentic and meaningful Few things evoke a sense of wonder more • Williams, J. 2005, Sun beams directly term. The phrase roughly translates to “the than the mysteries of the cosmos. Yet while down on Hawaii in May, USA Today, Sun rests on the brain”. Hawaiians believe black holes and spiral galaxies capture (USA: Gannet Co, Inc.) that the moment in which a person’s people’s imaginations, they can also seem shadow disappears as the Sun passes very remote from human experience. The over the zenith is a time of great personal challenge for astronomy communicators is Notes power. At this moment the person’s mana to bring the cosmos down to Earth so that or energy would collect inside and the per- the astronomical concepts become mean- 1 The correct Hawaiian spelling for Lahaina Noon son becomes aligned with the forces of the ingful to people. Integrating astronomical includes a macron over the first two “a’s” in Lahaina. Universe (Pukui, Haertig & Lee, 1972). concepts within cultural contexts provides a strategy for making astronomy relevant 2 The correct Hawaiian spelling for kau ka la i ka Because of the Bishop Museum’s role as an by highlighting the celestial heritage of eth- lolo includes macrons over the “a” in la. authority on Hawaiian culture and astron- nic minorities. omy, the phrase Lahaina Noon survives within Hawaii. Each time Lahaina Noon is repeated it represents a lost opportunity References for educating the public about the original Hawaiian knowledge regarding the zenith • Beckwith, M. W. 1932, Kepelino’s tra- passage of the Sun. ditions of Hawaii, (Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press) This example illustrates the need for cultural content to be based on authentic cultural • Division of State Parks, n.d, Kukaniloko information rather than inventiveness, con- Birthstones State Monument, (Hawaii: Biography jecture, misunderstanding or exaggeration. Department of Land and Natural Otherwise, there is the risk that repeated Resources) inaccuracies become known as truth. In Nancy Alima Ali is the Coordinator of Pub- lic Programs at the Center for Science Edu- choosing the cultural content, seek out • Eastlick, P. 1995, Astronomy at the cul- cation at University of California Berkeley’s knowledge from cultural experts such as tural crossroads, Mercury, 24, 16–18 Space Sciences Laboratory. Throughout anthropologists, archaeologists, linguists, her career, she has taught STEM topics to community leaders and elders. Cultural • Finney, B. 1994, Voyage of rediscovery: people of all ages in both formal and in­ formal settings. Before moving to California, astronomy is interdisciplinary by nature, so A cultural odyssey through Polynesia, Nancy managed Windward Community sources of information must be gathered Berkeley: University of California Press) College’s planetarium and served as the from a variety of field studies. Science Education Manager at Bishop • Freidel, D., Schele, L. & Parker, J. 1993, Museum in Hawaii. Nancy Ali became inter- ested in cultural astronomy while working 3. Make it holistic Maya cosmos, (New York: HarperCollins at Bishop Museum, where she learned how Publishers, Inc.) Hawaiian people used celestial navigation. The nature of scientific study often involves Following this passion, she earned a Master breaking down a concept or phenomenon • Kelley, D. H. & Milone, E. F. 2004, Explor- of Education degree from Lesley Univer- sity, specialising in integrating astronomy into its constituent parts. In astronomy, ing Ancient Skies, (New York: Springer- and culture. Nancy developed and taught a particular star may be understood as a New York) an “Intro to Archaeoastronomy” course mass of hydrogen and helium atoms which for Windward Community College, as well can be reduced to an equation. Yet cultural • Malo, D. 1951, Hawaiian antiquities as wrote a monthly astronomy column for the Honolulu Star–Bulletin newspaper. perspectives of the cosmos tend to present (Mo’olelo Hawaii), trans. Emerson, a holistic understanding of the natural (Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press)

• Making Astronomy Culturally Relevant • CAPjournal, No. 9 October 2010 • Page 20 The 1400-page final report for the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009) is a compilation of the achieve- ments of the 216 IYA2009 stakeholders — 148 countries, 40 international organisations and 28 global projects. The report shows the excitement, engagement and community involvement engendered by IYA2009. The report is intended to stand as a record of the legacy of this astonishing international celebration of astronomy. Download the International Year of Astronomy 2009 Final Report here: www.astronomy2009.org