To look up at our galaxy — the Milky Way — on a clear night is to glimpse starlight that has taken thousands of years to reach your eyes. But to understand the role of the stars, a cultural perspective is just as vital as a scientific one. For millennia, Aboriginal Australians have been observing the ancient lights of the night sky and have developed an intricate knowledge of the constellations and their movements. 

On Saturday 14 December, Aldinga Library is hosting astronomy lecturer, Paul Curnow, who will unpack fascinating insights in his presentation, Aboriginal Skies. Topics include: how to find different stellar patterns, how dreaming stories relate to the night sky, and how constellations such as the Southern Cross and Orion are seen by different Indigenous groups throughout Australia. 

Paul, who is the Vice President of the Astronomical Society of South Australia and a lecturer at the Adelaide Planetarium, has specialised in Aboriginal skies for more than 20 years. 

“I thought it was pretty sad that we were just teaching Western astronomy, so I started to specialise in ethnoastronomy, [which is] how other cultures see the night sky,” Paul says in an interview with Helen Myer on Radio Adelaide.

There are both differences and incredible similarities with how cultures have interpreted the cosmos over time. Orion is one of the classical constellations that can be traced back to the ancient Sumerians of Mesopotamia. In classical mythology Orion was a hunter. Paul teaches how the Kaurna people of the Adelaide plains see the stars in Orion as a group of hunters. 

But there are variations in how the night sky is observed even within different groups of Aboriginal Australians. For the Kaurna people, the Southern Cross is seen as the claws of an eagle, but for the Ngarrindgeri people of the Coorong region and Southern Fleurieu, the same constellation is seen as a stingray.

Paul’s upcoming talk at Aldinga Library is designed for adult beginners who are eager to learn about astronomy and the night sky as viewed by the Aboriginal Peoples of Australia. 

Aldinga Library regularly hosts Aboriginal educational events. The library is also proud to have on display a bi-cultural photographic narrative that highlights Aldinga’s rich cultural history. 

You can find out more about the Aboriginal Skies event here.

Aldinga Library is located at Aldinga Central Shopping Centre, 11 Central Way, Aldinga Beach.