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A different way to look at the stars

 

The Polynesians made astonishing trips across the Pacific to colonize a vast area of the globe across considerable distances of open water. How did they wayfind? By looking at the constellations? in quite a different way than we do. Right now in the sky there are constellations that show you north and south lines. The Hawaiians looked at the sky in a wide perspective. Try it tonight. Attached is how to establish a North/South line with the current sky.?

ke_ka_o_makalii.jpg

 

Great info!? If it wasn't cloudy here in Norfolk I'd go give it a try.? Where did you find this map?
 

Sigh................trying to retrace my wanderings..... I will do my best to get you the site though there are many sites on Hawaiian wayfinding and star tradition.

This started with an astro archeology reference to the Pleiades which resulted in a phone? conversation with a friend who was born in Hawaii and has a grasp of the language.? The Hawaiian name for Pleiades is Makali'i which translates into "Little eyes" or perhaps "little objects" or "little stars". The star map name is translated into "the scoop of Makali'i" roughly. It is obvious from the picture. Anyways, this led to a lot further research into Polynesian navigation in particular (still ongoing).

It is nice having a native, so to speak, to bounce ideas off. Io groups does not let you post links but I can convey the site when I find it again. In the meantime just google "Hawaiian wayfinding" or anything to do with Polynesian traditional sky lore. It will get you there.

On Saturday, February 1, 2025 at 08:45:58 PM EST, kiowa706 via groups.io <kiowa706@...> wrote:


Great info!? If it wasn't cloudy here in Norfolk I'd go give it a try.? Where did you find this map?
 

Thanks for the info.? It's always enjoyable to dive into something and next thing you onow you're 10 websites away.
?
The astro-archeaology story, it wouldn't be the one regarding why we call it the Seven Sisters and it's relation Orion the Hunter would it?
 

No, though there is an interesting thing about the seven sisters and Orion that crosses very diverse and isolated cultures that would have had no contact or at least none that anyone knows about, being too ancient. The stories can have similar aspects. I suppose being an obvious asterism in the sky, it could invoke stories along similar lines. The Australian aborigines have a very similar story to many cultures. They are one of the oldest continuous cultures on the planet it seems.

In Hawaii it is quite different. The asterism was thought of as fruit or food that a bad Ali'i (royal personage) horded from the people. This would have been quite unacceptable in Hawaiian tradition and society. The hungry people wanted to get the food and a mouse volunteered to go up and cut the sack that held the food. That is what you see in the sky now. The food that fell out of the sack. Nothing to do with women hiding from some male threat in western and Australian culture.

Scorpius was the fishhook of Maui which pulled the world from the oceans. That is fairly easy to see too considering the shape of the constellation. Remember they are further south than us and see a bit different sky. Also there were vast low horizons on the open ocean hence the very long, multi constellation, lines.? Navigation was a unified holistic observation of stars, birds, current patterns, and wave patterns. Wayfinders were highly respected and sat in the rear of the canoe, often not sleeping for long periods. That was their only job. Not the mechanics of sailing. Many were children of wayfinders and the knowledge was passed to progeny.

There is one lovely story of a famous navigator who was placed in a tidal pool at the age of 1 or 2 to get an intuitive feel of ocean rhythms. Upon? his first open water voyage, when he was older, he got sea sick so his teacher tied a rope around his waist and drug him behind the canoe until the nausea passed. Emoji

On Sunday, February 2, 2025 at 09:52:33 AM EST, kiowa706 via groups.io <kiowa706@...> wrote:


Thanks for the info.? It's always enjoyable to dive into something and next thing you onow you're 10 websites away.
?
The astro-archeaology story, it wouldn't be the one regarding why we call it the Seven Sisters and it's relation Orion the Hunter would it?
 

Speaking of migration waves in the Pacific and similarities.
The Pleiades in different Pacific languages:

Hawaiian; Makali'i
Samoan: Li'i
Tongan: Mataliki
Tahitian: Matari'i
Maoris of New Zealand: Matariki
Melanesian (Vanuatu): Mataliki
Pohnpei (Micronesia): Makeriker

On Sunday, February 2, 2025 at 09:52:33 AM EST, kiowa706 via groups.io <kiowa706@...> wrote:


Thanks for the info.? It's always enjoyable to dive into something and next thing you onow you're 10 websites away.
?
The astro-archeaology story, it wouldn't be the one regarding why we call it the Seven Sisters and it's relation Orion the Hunter would it?
 

Best book I've read on this is by Steve Thomas', "The Last Navigator". It's more of a sailing book but he talks a lot about one of the last surviving navigators in Micronesia sailing canoes across thousands of miles by stars, waves and birds.?

Tom

On Sun, Feb 2, 2025 at 10:56?AM jimcoble2000 via <jimcoble2000=[email protected]> wrote:
Speaking of migration waves in the Pacific and similarities.
The Pleiades in different Pacific languages:

Hawaiian; Makali'i
Samoan: Li'i
Tongan: Mataliki
Tahitian: Matari'i
Maoris of New Zealand: Matariki
Melanesian (Vanuatu): Mataliki
Pohnpei (Micronesia): Makeriker

On Sunday, February 2, 2025 at 09:52:33 AM EST, kiowa706 via <kiowa706=[email protected]> wrote:


Thanks for the info.? It's always enjoyable to dive into something and next thing you onow you're 10 websites away.
?
The astro-archeaology story, it wouldn't be the one regarding why we call it the Seven Sisters and it's relation Orion the Hunter would it?

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