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A review by henrymarlene
The First Astronomers: How Indigenous Elders Read the Stars by Duane Hamacher, Elders and Knowledge Holders
4.0
“We all inherit this ancient knowledge but only if we respect it”.
Indigenous knowledge is complex and scientific. It comes from observations, stories, recollections, analysis, wisdom passed through generations across thousands of years. Aboriginal people have been able to maintain such a body of knowledge about the stars and pass it down through oral traditional stories. This book, “The First Astronomers” debunks the beliefs that Indigenous knowledge does not contain science: in fact, the insights it provides is so valuable to many of the problems our world faces today.
A poignant part of this book for me was when Hamacher talked about the legal proceedings of Mao where a judge travelled to the Torres Strait where an Elder explained the songs, the history and tradition that led to the winning of sea rights. The application and acceptance of Indigenous Knowledge as part of “western science” is integral – it is so much older and it demonstrates “deep levels of understanding about the world”.
Galileo may have been describing the stars and auroras in the 1600s, however the extraordinary observational skills of the Indigenous people around the world, including the First Nations peoples of Australia were captured in story and artefacts for thousands of years earlier. Indigenous astronomy is “the astronomy of First Peoples, and it is the astronomy that existed and thrived before the advent of Western science”.
Indigenous knowledge is complex and scientific. It comes from observations, stories, recollections, analysis, wisdom passed through generations across thousands of years. Aboriginal people have been able to maintain such a body of knowledge about the stars and pass it down through oral traditional stories. This book, “The First Astronomers” debunks the beliefs that Indigenous knowledge does not contain science: in fact, the insights it provides is so valuable to many of the problems our world faces today.
A poignant part of this book for me was when Hamacher talked about the legal proceedings of Mao where a judge travelled to the Torres Strait where an Elder explained the songs, the history and tradition that led to the winning of sea rights. The application and acceptance of Indigenous Knowledge as part of “western science” is integral – it is so much older and it demonstrates “deep levels of understanding about the world”.
Galileo may have been describing the stars and auroras in the 1600s, however the extraordinary observational skills of the Indigenous people around the world, including the First Nations peoples of Australia were captured in story and artefacts for thousands of years earlier. Indigenous astronomy is “the astronomy of First Peoples, and it is the astronomy that existed and thrived before the advent of Western science”.