Crux stars as a fish. In Mapudungun, the language of Patagonian Mapuches, the name of the Southern Cross is "Melipal", which means "four stars". In Quechua, the language of the Inca civilization, Crux is known as "Chakana", which means literally "stair" ("chaka", bridge, link; "hanan", high, above), but carries a deep symbolism within Quechua mysticism. Acrux and Mimosa make up one foot of the Great Rhea, a constellation encompassing Centaurus and Circinus along with the two bright stars. The Great Rhea was a constellation of the Bororo of Brazil. The Mocoví people of Argentina also saw a rhea including the stars
Crux 67 degrees south declination for the middle of the constellation. But in AD 18000 or BC 8000 Crux will be and was less than 30 degrees south declination making it visible in Northern Europe. Even by AD 14000, it will be visible for most parts of Europe and the whole United States. In the Southern Hemisphere, the Southern Cross is frequently used for navigation in much the same way that Polaris is used in the Northern Hemisphere. Alpha and Gamma (known as Acrux and Gacrux, respectively) are commonly used to mark south. Tracing a line from Gacrux to Acrux leads