Australian Aboriginal Astronomy

What Are the Stories?

The Aboriginal people have inhabited Australia for between 40 000 and 120 000 years. During that time a rich heritage of Story developed around the stars of the southern sky.

So why do many only teach a Northern Hemisphere / European view of the constellations? Let’s teach our students some of the stories that have been told across the land for thousands of years.

Possible Tasks

• Create a comic strip of an indigenous culture’s view of a constellation of celestial objects. This Aboriginal Astronomy site will help the Aussies.
• Invite a local elder to tell traditional stories of the stars. Have the students create comic strips of these stories if it is permitted by lore.
• Encourage the students to find their own source of the stories.
• Read the story of the ‘Emu in the Sky‘.