Aboriginal astronomy kept alive

Aboriginal astronomy kept alive

From the age of nine, lying "belly up" on a blanket, Bill Yidumduma Harney learnt the name of every star and its story from his Wardaman elders on his ancestral land 350 kilometres south-west of Darwin.

Now, at 72, he is one of only two elders who can read the night sky thoroughly - and the other, Lily Gin-gina, has become forgetful.

So, this one-time crocodile shooter, stockman, artist and tourism operator who learnt to read stars but not words, has joined philosopher and theologian Hugh Cairns to create a book, Dark Sparklers . It will be launched at the University of Sydney today by archaeologist John Clegg.


Dr Cairns wanted to help pass on the knowledge to Harney's 10 grandchildren. Harney, who sees his world as a "cosmoscape" encompassing Earth and sky, said he hoped the project could bring the heavens alive for city people who had lost so much by not knowing their night sky.

The book explains ancient Aboriginal understandings of what Harney calls "up top", where many of the great creation figures of the Aboriginal Dreaming have taken starry form.

But, like many indigenous people worldwide, Harney sees much more than constellations, said Dr Cairns. He sees the shapes of heavenly creatures as black gassy clouds, including the three major creation figures Froglady Earthmother and her two husbands, Rainbow and Sky Boss. Dr Cairns has learnt to see them, too.

The Southern Cross, in Wardaman eyes, represents the catfish and is an important ceremonial area in sky stories. Leo is the site of the "lightning creation dog" who, said Harney, "turned the whole world around" in the creation era, when there were no stars, just people walking about the Earth.

Through the capers of this dog, mud turned to rock, animals first appeared and some people became locked in the sky as stars.

The "group of little stars" known as the Corona Australis "are women sitting around making decisions about the law".

And Harney thinks of "star twinkle" as people blinking as they talk.

Hundreds of non-Aboriginal researchers and tourists have visited his lands outside Katharine. They include the Scottish comedian Billy Connolly (who Harney describes as "that shooting star").

But few were as captivated by the star stories as Dr Cairns, 68, who has a doctorate from Edinburgh University in science, ideology and religion, and was for 14 years principal of St Andrew's College at the University of Sydney.

Dr Cairns's interest in indigenous perspectives of the firmament was sparked by rock art, where cosmic spirits such as the famous Lightning Brothers often appear.

It grew as he learnt that the Wardaman calendar follows the annual circuit of the Southern Cross and that Harney uses his own shadow as a compass to travel by moonlight.

Studying astronomy with Harney had been deeply intellectually satisfying. His thoughts come as fast as "gusty whirlywhirlies", Dr Cairns said.

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