Native American culture has always had strong ties with the sky and astronomical bodies. Similar to the Western cultures, there are tribes who strongly believe that the motion of the astronomical bodies like stars affect how things turned out here on Earth. Astronomy played a significant part in daily lives of the Native Americans. The Native American tribes had various legends and traditions to which astronomy can be related. Since many of these Native Americans were gatherers and hunters, they believe that astronomical bodies guide and help them in their searches.
The Native Americans were believed to have come from Asia and journeyed into North America, and being the first people to the new land thus the name Native Americans emerged. As time passed, they became distinct into their separate tribes. And although they have different tribes, the thoughts and beliefs with regards to the heavens and the sky still became largely similar. Needless to say, astronomy to us or star watching to them is a major part of their everyday lives.
During their times, there were no clocks or calendars and thus it was only with the use of the heavenly bodies, the tides, and natural occurrence that they were able to determine the time and date. The Native Americans manage to sky watch as per evidence of carving in bones and rocks the lunar cycles of their times. Some tribes even name lunar cycles to the specific events that happens in their surroundings, as they name one lunar cycle as laying geese and another as coming caribou. It was up to the elders of the tribe to read the heavenly bodies. Just like in the west, the Native Americans believe that the motion of the stars directly affected the happenings in on Earth. From predicting when a drought will hit the tribe to finding out whether hunting will be good, the Native American people turned to astronomy brought by religious elders.
The four cardinal directions, North, East, West and South, were treated sacred by many tribes, as they supposedly presided over each one as gods. The Native American beliefs in the significance of the stars vary from tribe to tribe. Each culture has its belief on what the stars are, and the origin of the stars and what they signify. Some tribes try to explain why the stars were arranged and group together the way they were, why the stars moved and other astronomic phenomena. Given that there are several cultures as from several tribes, they have their own opinions on the questions on stars thus having a vast number of beliefs among the tribes. Say the Blackfoot tribe of Montana and South Dakota believed that the star cluster Pleiades were before six orphaned boys neglected from their clan and thus they became stars while the Western Mono tribe of California believed that the same star cluster signified a group of six women who were evicted from their homes as they frequently eat onions giving them bad breath.
It does not always mean that none of the explanations and beliefs of the different tribes had similarities to their own beliefs and opinions. The Canis Major and Canis Minor were both thought of dogs by the Cherokee tribe of Tennessee and tribes from the west. The Cherokees believed that the two were dogs needed to be past to be able to enter the afterlife.
Native American astronomy provided several important implications. One of which is for the everyday man being able to navigate through the use of the stars for tribes who raid, and especially for those traveling at night. It was also clear that the Native Americans considered astronomy as an aid to manage their time. Unlike the present, they lack the presence of the up-to-the-minute time keeper, and were only able to see time as divided into segments of actions, directed by what is happening to their surroundings. Surprisingly enough, the Native American people were able to implement and pass their knowledge on astronomy to their later generations, thus providing proof that the intelligence of man is not bounded even by the Earth that he lives in.
The Native Americans were believed to have come from Asia and journeyed into North America, and being the first people to the new land thus the name Native Americans emerged. As time passed, they became distinct into their separate tribes. And although they have different tribes, the thoughts and beliefs with regards to the heavens and the sky still became largely similar. Needless to say, astronomy to us or star watching to them is a major part of their everyday lives.
During their times, there were no clocks or calendars and thus it was only with the use of the heavenly bodies, the tides, and natural occurrence that they were able to determine the time and date. The Native Americans manage to sky watch as per evidence of carving in bones and rocks the lunar cycles of their times. Some tribes even name lunar cycles to the specific events that happens in their surroundings, as they name one lunar cycle as laying geese and another as coming caribou. It was up to the elders of the tribe to read the heavenly bodies. Just like in the west, the Native Americans believe that the motion of the stars directly affected the happenings in on Earth. From predicting when a drought will hit the tribe to finding out whether hunting will be good, the Native American people turned to astronomy brought by religious elders.
The four cardinal directions, North, East, West and South, were treated sacred by many tribes, as they supposedly presided over each one as gods. The Native American beliefs in the significance of the stars vary from tribe to tribe. Each culture has its belief on what the stars are, and the origin of the stars and what they signify. Some tribes try to explain why the stars were arranged and group together the way they were, why the stars moved and other astronomic phenomena. Given that there are several cultures as from several tribes, they have their own opinions on the questions on stars thus having a vast number of beliefs among the tribes. Say the Blackfoot tribe of Montana and South Dakota believed that the star cluster Pleiades were before six orphaned boys neglected from their clan and thus they became stars while the Western Mono tribe of California believed that the same star cluster signified a group of six women who were evicted from their homes as they frequently eat onions giving them bad breath.
It does not always mean that none of the explanations and beliefs of the different tribes had similarities to their own beliefs and opinions. The Canis Major and Canis Minor were both thought of dogs by the Cherokee tribe of Tennessee and tribes from the west. The Cherokees believed that the two were dogs needed to be past to be able to enter the afterlife.
Native American astronomy provided several important implications. One of which is for the everyday man being able to navigate through the use of the stars for tribes who raid, and especially for those traveling at night. It was also clear that the Native Americans considered astronomy as an aid to manage their time. Unlike the present, they lack the presence of the up-to-the-minute time keeper, and were only able to see time as divided into segments of actions, directed by what is happening to their surroundings. Surprisingly enough, the Native American people were able to implement and pass their knowledge on astronomy to their later generations, thus providing proof that the intelligence of man is not bounded even by the Earth that he lives in.
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