DDRIG: Northern Dene Astronomy

University Of Alaska Fairbanks Campus, Fairbanks AK

Investigators

Abstract

Paragraph 1 The celestial sphere is perhaps the only realm of the natural world that has not been significantly altered by humans and is one of the few constants that social scientists have to work with across all world cultures. The Northern Dene provides one of the best remaining opportunities in North America to document and describe an Indigenous astronomy system. However, the proposed research is particularly time sensitive as recent rapid language shift combined with modern technology has replaced nearly every aspect in which astronomy was traditionally utilized, leading to the disuse and erosion of traditional astronomy knowledge systems. Documentation of Northern Dene astronomy provides a baseline for comparison of Indigenous astronomical knowledge across cultures, and is thus fundamental to understanding Dene conceptualization of the cosmos. Dene astronomy also provides insights into broader aspects of culture, life-way, and cosmology; hence, this research will be useful by scholars in related disciplines, including linguistics, cognition, geography, and astronomy. Astronomy also arouses natural curiosity among Northern Dene communities and the broader public, and thus can be readily integrated in school curricula and education outreach programs. Paragraph 2 This project supports dissertation research with Northern Dene collaborators in order to better understand Indigenous concepts of astronomy. Although astronomy is a fundamental component of all Dene cultures, there has so far been no systematic effort to document Dene knowledge of the sky. Rapid change in traditional land use has led to this astronomical knowledge being even more endangered than the Indigenous languages themselves. This study builds on initial research with the Alaskan Gwich'in to include additional ethnolinguistic groups within the Northern Dene region. Field work will be conducted in several communities in Alaska and Canada, working with Northern Dene tradition bearers who have specialized astronomy knowledge. This study will provide much needed baseline documentation on Northern Dene knowledge of the sky, while also seeking to understand how celestial objects and atmospheric phenomena are utilized by the Northern Dene in cultural contexts, such as in navigation, time-reckoning, weather forecasting, and cosmology. Specific areas of inquiry related to the uses of Dene astronomy include: knowledge about stars and constellations, the northern lights, meteors, comets, atmospheric halos and sun dogs (parhelia), the sun and moon. All research will be conducted collaboratively with community members. The results of the research will be incorporated into ongoing community school curricula development and public planetarium programming. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.