Australian Space Sciences Conference

The Australian Space Sciences Conference is having their annual meeting at the University of New South Wales this year from 30 September to 2 October 2013.

On Wednesday, 2 October, the ASSC will feature a plenary talk and a dedicated session to Indigenous Sky Knowledge. The papers presented at the meeting will be combined and published as a free eBook early next year.

Talks include:

Plenary Talk (9:00-9:30 am)


John Goldsmith:      The "Ilgarijiri- Things Belonging to the Sky" project: Collaboration between 
                                  Aboriginal communities and radio astronomy in Australia.

ISK Session (10:30-11:00 am)

Les Bursill:               Acknowledgement of Country and Welcome

Hugh Cairns:           An Ancient Aboriginal Astronomy from the Northern Territory

Trevor Leaman:      Ooldea Nights: Daisy Bates and the Aboriginal Sky Knowledge of the Great 
                                  Victoria Desert, South Australia

Robert Fuller:          The Sky Knowledge of the Kamilaroi People and Their Neighbours

David Pross:             Sky Knowledge and Rock Art in the Sydney Basin

Duane Hamacher:   Are Supernovae Recorded in the Astronomical Traditions of Aboriginal 
                                  Australians?

Geoff Wyatt:            Star wheel and signals: Sydney Observatory's Shared Sky
                                  education program

Alice Gorman:         Beyond the Morning Star: the Voyager spacecraft and Australian Aboriginal 
                                  culture

Ragbir Bhathal:      Perspectives on Aboriginal Sky Knowledge

A full program can be viewed here.

A Shark in the Stars: Astronomy and Culture in the Torres Strait

Originally published in The Conversation, 10 July 2013, 6.36 am EST

by Duane Hamacher

Tagai by Glen Mackie

Technology has, without doubt, expanded our understanding of space. The Voyager 1 space probe is on the brink of leaving our solar system. Massive telescopes have discovered blasts of fast radio bursts from 10 billion light years away. And after a decade on Mars, a Rover recently found evidence for an early ocean on the Red Planet.

But with every new advance, it’s also important to remember the science of astronomy has existed for thousands of years and forms a vital part of Indigenous Australian culture, even today. As an example, lets explore the astronomy of the Torres Strait Islanders, an Indigenous Australian people living between the tip of Cape York and Papua New Guinea.

Read the rest of the article in "The Conversation".

Stories Under Tagai: Traditional Stories from the Torres Strait

   

Presented at the 2012 MyLanguage Conference held at the State Library of Queensland in August. It tells the story of the Indigenous Knowledge Centres' (IKC) of the Torres Strait and explores the work in gathering and retelling community stories. Produced by the State Library of Queensland.

Baidam – The Shark Constellation

Baidam painting by Dennis Nona.

In the astronomical traditions of Torres Strait Islanders, Baidam is a shark. The shark constellation consists of seven stars. The stars of Baidam were used for navigation and provided knowledge about the seasons and for gardening fruit and vegetables. In about July/August Baidam will level itself across the horizon of New Guinea [to the north]. At seven or eight o'clock you will see it parallel to New Guinea. At this time the wind drops. Around this time we begin planting vegetables and fruit: Cassava, Dawai (banana), Guru (sugar cane), Taro/Urrgubau (sweet potato). Those are the main ones planted when the shark lies across the horizon. When it becomes calm in the Torres Strait, around this time, a grease forms on the surface of the sea. I have shown this in the artwork. The grease is called "Baidam aw id" - "when the shark liver has melted on the sea". At this time it is also shark mating season: a dangerous time in the sea. The shark constellation rotates throughout the year. In February, when you see the stars beginning to shine, that's the shark. (Account by Dennis Nona)

Baidam artwork by Brian Robinson.

Editor's note: Some of the accounts identify the seven stars in question as the Seven Sisters (the Pleiades). This seven stars of Baidam are actually the seven bright stars of the "Big Dipper" (the brightest stars of the Western constellation Ursa Major - the Big Bear). From the Torres Strait, these stars appear low on the horizon to the north and coincide precisely with the description above. Because the Pleiades are commonly associated with seven stars, they are sometimes conflated with Baidam. It doesn't help that when scaled to the same size, the Pleiades and the Big Dipper look very similar! (See below.)  In Torres Strait traditions, the Pleiades star cluster is called Usiam. - Duane Hamacher

Pleiades                                            Big Dipper

Mullyangah the Morning Star

As recorded by Katie Langloh Parker (1897)

From the Eulayhi people of northwestern New South Wales.

Mullyan, the eagle hawk, built himself a home high in a yaraan tree. There he lived apart from his tribe, with Moodai the possum, his wife, and Moodai the possum, his mother-in-law. With them too was Buttergah, a daughter of the Buggoo or flying squirrel tribe. Buttergah was a friend of Moodai, the wife of Mullyan, and a distant cousin to the Moodai tribe.

Mullyan the eagle hawk was a cannibal. That was the reason of his living apart from the other people. In order to satisfy his cannibal cravings, he used to sally forth with a big spear, a spear about four times as big as an ordinary spear. If he found a blackfellow hunting alone, he would kill him and take his body up to the house in the tree. There the Moodai and Buttergab would cook it, and all of them would eat the flesh; for the women as well as Mullyan were cannibals. This went on for some time, until at last so many blackfellows were slain that their friends determined to find out what became of them, and they tracked the last one they missed. They tracked him to where he had evidently been slain; they took up the tracks of his slayer, and followed them right to the foot of the yaraan tree, in which was built the home of Mullyan. They tried to climb the tree, but it was high and straight, and they gave up the attempt after many efforts. In their despair at their failure they thought of the Bibbees, a tribe noted for its climbing powers. They summoned two young Bibbees to their aid. One came, bringing with him his friend Murrawondah of the climbing-rat tribe.

Mullyan - an eaglehawk. Image from www.wildlifepark.com.au

Having heard what the people wanted them to do, these famous climbers went to the yaraan tree and made a start at once. There was only light enough that first night for them to see to reach a fork in the tree about half-way up. There they camped, watched Mullyan away in the morning, and then climbed on. At last they reached the home of Mullyan. They watched their chance and then sneaked into his humpy.

When they were safely inside, they hastened to secrete a smouldering stick in one end of the humpy, taking care they were not seen by any of the women. Then they went quietly down again, no one the wiser of their coming or going. During the day the women heard sometimes a crackling noise, as of burning, but looking round they saw nothing, and as their own fire was safe, they took no notice, thinking it might have been caused by some grass having fallen into their fire.

After their descent from having hidden the smouldering fire stick, Bibbee and Murrawondah found the people and told them what they had done. Hearing that the plan was to burn out Mullyan, and fearing that the tree might fall, they all moved to some little distance, there to watch and wait for the end. Great was their joy at the thought that at last their enemy was circumvented. And proud were Bibbee and Murrawondah as the blackfellows praised their prowess.

After dinner-time Mullyan came back. When he reached the entrance to his house he put down his big spear outside. Then he went in and threw himself down to rest, for long had he walked and little had he gained. In a few minutes he heard his big spear fall down. He jumped up and stuck it in its place again. He had no sooner thrown himself down, than again he heard it fall. Once more be rose and replaced it. As he reached his resting-place again, out burst a flame of fire from the end of his humpy. He called out to the three women, who were cooking, and they rushed to help him extinguish the flames. But in spite of their efforts the fire only blazed the brighter. Mullyan's arm was burnt off. The Moodai had their feet burnt, and Buttergah was badly burnt too. Seeing they were helpless against the fire, they turned to leave the humpy to its fate, and make good their own escape. But they had left it too late. As they turned to descend the tree, the roof of the humpy fell on them. And all that remained when the fire ceased, were the charred bones of the dwellers in the yaraan tree. That was all that the people found of their enemies; but their legend says that Mullyan the eagle hawk lives in the sky as Mullyangah the morning star, on one side of which is a little star, which is his one arm; on the other a larger star, which is Moodai the possum, his wife.

Listen to an audio recording of this story here.

Bahloo the Moon and the Daens

As recorded by Katie Langloh Parker (1897)

From the Eulayhi people of northwestern New South Wales.

Bahloo, the moon-man looked, down at the earth one night, when his light was shining quite brightly, to see if any one was moving. When the earth people were all asleep was the time he chose for playing with his three dogs. He called them dogs, but the earth people called them snakes, the death adder, the black snake, and the tiger snake.

As he looked down on to the earth, with his three dogs beside him, Bahloo saw about a dozen daens, or people, crossing a Creek. He called to them saying, "Stop! I want you to carry my dogs across that creek."

But the people, though they liked Bahloo well, did not like his dogs, for sometimes when he had brought these dogs to play on the earth, they had bitten not only the earth dogs but their masters; and the poison left by the bites had killed those bitten.

So the people said, "No, Bahloo, we are too frightened! Your dogs might bite us. They are not like our dogs, whose bite would not kill us."

Bahloo, the moon man. Image from scienceillustrated.com.au.

Bahloo said, "If you do what I ask you, when you die you shall come to life again, not die and stay always where you are put when you are dead. See this piece of bark. I throw it into the water."

And he threw a piece of bark into the creek. "See it comes to the top again and floats. That is what would happen to you if you would do what I ask you: first under when you die, then up again at once." 

"If you will not take my dogs over, you foolish daens, you will die like this," and he threw a stone into the creek, which sank to the bottom.

"You will be like that stone, never rise again, Wombah deans!"

But the people said, "We cannot do it, Bahloo. We are too frightened of your dogs."

"I will come down and carry them over myself to show you that they are quite safe and harmless."

And down he came, the black snake coiled round one arm, the tiger snake round the other, and the death adder on his shoulder, coiled towards his neck. He carried them over. 

When he had crossed the creek he picked up a big stone, and he threw it into the water, saying "Now, you cowardly daens, you would not do what I, Bahloo, asked you to do, and so forever you have lost the chance of rising again after you die. You will just stay where you are put, like that stone does under the water, and grow, as it does, to be part of the earth."

"If you had done what I asked you, you could have died as often as I die, and have come to life as often as I come to life. But now you will only be people while you live, and bones when you are dead."

Bahloo's "dogs" (snakes). Pictured is the death adder. Image from dangerous-snake-pics1.blogspot.com.au

Bahloo looked so cross, and the three snakes hissed so fiercely, that the people were very glad to see them disappear from their sight behind the trees.

The people had always been frightened of Bahloo's dogs, and now they hated them, and they said, "If we could get them away from Bahloo we would kill them."

And thenceforth, whenever they saw a snake alone they killed it.

But Babloo only sent more, for he said, "As long as there are people there shall be snakes to remind them that they would not do what I asked them."

Jangurna Story: Indigenous Astronomy in Western Australia

By Peter Morse

Taken from Peter Morse's blog at www.petermorse.com.au

Above is a 4 minute preview of the 20 minute ‘Jangurna Story’ – a fulldome movie exploring Indigenous stories of the night sky around the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. This story – concerning ‘Jangurna’ (The Emu) has been told by community elder Stella Tittums to the historian Mary Ann Jebb – the recording provides the narrative soundtrack.

The movie was shot during a 10,000 km 3 month voyage that took me and my film crew (Chris Henderson and Sally Hildred) from Hobart (Tasmania), across the Nullarbor, to Perth (Western Australia), and then around the Gascoyne, camping all the way. We filmed the night skies, dusks and dawns, amidst the magnificent arid landscapes of Carnarvon, Quobba, Exmouth, Ningaloo, Mandu Mandu and many others.

Read the remainder of the blog on Peter Morse's website.