MIC Free Lecture Series: Native American Astronomy

The original inhabitants of North America did not leave a written language; however, they did leave evidence indicating that they were studying the night sky long before Euro American colonization. Native Americans farmed, hunted, gathered, and established their lifeways by observation of the night sky. Encoded by oral traditions and encoded symbology, astronomy played an important role in Native American culture. Their star knowledge was the basis of governance, agricultural practices and social order. The study of the cosmos led tribes to theorize about the origin of life in the universe.