The Sky and The American Indians

The Sky, and the information it offered, was of utmost importance to the American Indians (actually, to all peoples around the world!). Things that happened in the sky were recorded and remembered – for the next time and the next generation. As time passed, celestial events became “predictable.” If you had that knowledge in ancient societies, you had power! The eclipses, comets, meteor showers, sun dogs, etc., not to mention star patterns (asterisms) were all very important to early groups, and sometimes recorded in rock art and on artifacts. This slide lecture will cover a selection of the celestial events and their connection to ancient American Indian arts and artifacts.