Native American Astronomy

    During the past decade more and more evidence has surfaced proving Native Americans incorporated astronomy into many aspects of their way of living.  This evidence is found in ritual buildings, large earth burial mounds, and art.  Most Native Americans associated their lives directly to the earth and sky; they searched for meaning in the heavens.

     The most obvious sign of astronomy found in Native American life can be seen in the calendars created to keep track of time.  The calendars shows Native Americans noticed and kept track of the cyclic patterns of celestial events.  For example, the Papago Indians of Arizona divide their year by positions of an open star cluster in the constellation Taurus.  The time to plant is observed by the summer helical rising.  Zenith at dawn suggests the end of planting and past zenith harvest begins ( The First Star Gazers, pg. 23).  Likewise the Mayan Calendar was based on the cyclic pattern of Venus.

    Another important sign of the impact of astronomy on Native American culture can be seen in the architecture and the spatial order.  The beliefs of the culture are reflected in actions and buildings to complete harmony.  The ideal way to live, as believed by many cultures, is represented by the sky and celestial motions-in balance and always proper direction.  Examples of this can be seen in many different Native American groups.  The Oglala Sioux use 28 poles to erect their Sun Dance lodge.  This is related to the lunar month of 28 days.  The Mescalero Apache, upon entering their buildings move clockwise around the inside because the sun moves clockwise around the earth (Living the Sky, pp.299).  These are important examples to illustrate the importance of the celestial patterns on the Native American beliefs, morals, and overall philosophy of life.  The stars could represent past shamans or kings or dead council leaders and were looked upon with great respect for knowledge.

     The Navajo also incorporated astronomy into everyday aspects of their life.  The daily occurrence of dawn symbolizes the continuation of life and time.  The four light phenomena served as a guide to the peoples movements and activities.
     -Dawn, east represented by the color white
     -Sky, south represented by the color blue
     -Evening twilight, west represented by the color yellow
     -Darkness, north represented by the color black

    The construction of the Navajo hoogan also included celestial parameters.  The home represented order and stability of the family and tribe.  Four main support poles were used to represent the four directions: north, south, east, and west.  These poles were always erected following the sunwise circuit to keep the theme of order.  The door opening faced east, the direction the sun rises.  The star Polaris represented the central fire of the hoogan.  The Big Dipper and Cassiopeia are a visual metaphor for the hoogan.  The other stars in the sky revolve around the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia implying the importance of the Navajo home and its central focus to other Navajo ritual.  Therefore, the fire in the hoogan was placed directly in the center and symbolized the life of the home.  A hoogan without a fire was a sign of abandonment because of death.  This suggests the importance of a fire to keep the family protected and safe (Earth and Sky, pp.113).

    The Skidi Band of Pawnee Indians used similar techniques to construct their homes.  The star cluster Corona Borealis, as seen in figure 1, was known to the Skidi as the Chief's Council and was associated with patterns of their government and prescribed patterns  the people believed they were to follow.  The circular shape of the constellation also suggests the peoples concept of unity (Earth and Sky, pg. 234).

    The earth lodges constructed by the Skidi followed a similar pattern to the Navajo hoogan.  Four main poles were used to uphold the structure to symbolize the four primary stars that support the dome of the sky.  The door faced east just as the sun, moon, and stars appeared over the eastern horizon.  The fireplace, which is found at the center of the home, symbolized the sun, the warmth and light.  Directly opposite of the door in the west corner is a sacred place dedicated to the evening star.  The evening star to the Skidi was the mother of the first human child.  And most interesting of all is that the home was also used as an observatory.  The circular smokehole represented the Council of Chiefs and can be seen directly through the smokehole in early February (Earth and Sky, pp.226).

    Besides building homes based on celestial patterns Native Americans also used landmarks as sacred observatories.  These landmarks made certain celestial dates obvious because of light and shadow.  One if these particular observatories is Cardenas Hilltop (figure 2), located east of the Grand Canyon.  Pottery fragments found in this area showed it was used by the Anasazi in about 1100 AD.  This site was used to observe the winter and summer solstice through a small hole in the eastern rim of the Grand Canyon.  In midwinter, this hole in the rock allows only a single beam of light to shine down onto the floor of the ruin.  As the approach of winter solstice, each day brings the beam of light closer and closer to the ruin.  Although today, because of the 0.1* reduction in the tilt of the earth's axis, the phenomena is less obvious.  To see the sun through the hole a person must not stand in the ruin but 10 meters to the southwest (How the Shaman Stole the Moon, pg. 176).

    Cahokia is located south-west of Chicago and is the third largest prehistoric structure in North America.  The city's planning is also based on the movement of celestial objects.  Cahokia is home of Woodhenge, timber posts arranged in arc circles in which some of the posts line up with the light of the sun on solstices and equinoxes.  Inside the circle of posts appears a cross, signifying the four directions and the sun's rays.  The builders of the circle erected the posts from the outside in.  The observer's post (where the observer stands in the opening of the arc to view celestial events) is erected east of the center to get an angle greater than 30*, making observations in the northern latitude more accurate.  The line from the observer's post to the equinox post is an exact east-west line.  The summer-solstice post was oriented northeast-southwest.  And the winter-solstice post is oriented northwest-southeast. Because of the location of Cahokia, at mid-eclipse a lopsided ring appears two-thirds of the way between the horizon and zenith.  Some archeologists believe these timber posts were used as a sort of calendar (The Wisconsin Archeologist, pp.29).

    The last example of this use of astronomy in ritual buildings is see in the Ajumawi in northern California.  The observation of solstices and equinoxes served as key landmarks in the Ajumawi life and calendar.  Solder Mountain, or Simloki, is a conical volcanic mountain that stands 5,000 ft. high.  A shadow from the sunset appears on the opposite side of the mountain precisely where the sun rises in the corresponding season.  This can be depicted clearly in figure 3.  The summer solstice sunset casts a shadow on the adjacent ridge exactly where the winter solstice sun rises.  The same is true for the winter solstice sunset cast a shadow where the summer solstice sun rises.  Simloki is a sacred entity to the Ajumawi.  These shadows point to sacred springs of the Ajumawi, and itself is considered a spiritual being.  The shadow is thought to remind the Ajumawi of the celestial events and lead them to the spring water (Earth and Sky, pp.187).

    These were just a few of the many different examples of Native American astronomy.  And because this field is so new, many other examples are yet to be discovered.  So with that much more is to be learned of Native American life and traditions, before it's too late.
 
 

Calvin, W.H. (1991).  How the Shaman Stole the Moon.  New York, NY:  Bantam  Books.

Krupp, E.C. (1996).  Eclipse over Cahokia, The Wisconsin Archeologist, 22, (pp.12-25).   Milwaukee, WI:
    The Wisconsin Archeological Society.

Williamson, R.A. (1984).  Living the Sky.  Boston, MA:  Houghton Mifflin Co.

Williamson, R.A., & Farrer, C.R. ( 1992). Earth and Sky, Visions in the Cosmos in Native  American
    Folklore.  Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.