Skidi Pawnee Were Advanced Astronomers Who Charted The Night Sky And Kept Track Of Time
A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com - The Skidi Pawnee, who inhabited the Great Plains of Nebraska were among the most advanced star watchers. Similar to the Navajo, the people of the Pawnee tribe were deeply aware of the stars and their movements.
The main reason for their interest in stars was because they lived in places where there was no hill or tree that obscured the clear sky full of stars, which played an important role in their religion and inspired the building of their earthen homes – the lodges.
The Skidi Band society was once very complex and perfectly ordered. These people considered the stars as gods who interacted with humans on Earth. These stars (or gods) had their ranking according to the order of importance. The Pawnee also organized human social rank in their society – it was the ranking of the star gods.
They had shrines dedicated to certain stars and star charts but no calendar because they didn’t need it; the position of the stars told them when certain events were supposed to occur.
All their beliefs expressed in myths, their social and religious ceremonies depended on the stars, but one group of Pawnee - the Skidi or Wolf Band, especially worshiped the stars and watched them regularly each night for guidance in daily living. They believed the stars possessed the wisdom of Tirawahat, the Pawnee’s supreme being. He dwelled directly above, in the zenith and the beginning of everything originated from him, even the stars, which were sacred spirits.
Today, only a few descendants of the Wolf Band are alive and they are the only people who can still tell about their starlore but with a certain exception. Skidi legends do not say which stars are the four directional stars. The Pawnee considered such knowledge – sacred and only a few holy men could identify them.
Astronomer Von del Chamberlain, was an expert in Pawnee sky lore. He says that Black Star is most probably – Vega and White Star is Siorius. Yellow Star is Capella, the brightest star in the constellation of Auriga; and Red Star is most probably Antares, the brightest star in the constellation of Scorpius.
These four stars were pillars of heaven.
The Pawnee’s earthen lodges were a mirror of the cosmos and ceremonial dances of the tribe, feasts and other gatherings had a specially designated lodge. The lodges were circular, and about 40 feet in diameter, they had the ceiling about 15 feet above the firepit and a circular smoke hole.
The Pawnee say: the floor of their lodge is the earth itself. The ceiling is the sky. The “four pillars of heaven” hold up the sky, which means roof in their lodge and the top of the sky – the zenith – is the circular smoke hole.
See also:
Skidi Pawnee Indians – One Of The Best Sky Watchers Of Ancient Times And Their Star Chart
Bighorn Medicine Wheel: Sacred Site And Ancient Solar Observatory
Is The Poverty Point Octagon World’s Largest Ancient Solstice Marker?
Native American Tradition Of A Vision Quest – How To Enter The Spiritual World
Corona Borealis – the constellation of the Northern Crown had a beautiful name the “Council of Chiefs” and the first chief of this council was the North Star or Polaris (“Star That Does Not Walk Around”) but instead it guides the movements of the other stars and watch over the earth and its people.
The Skidi Pawnee tribe of the Nebraska Plains were advanced astronomers. By charting the night sky they kept track of time. They did not need calendars, they relied on the stars and their movements. They believed that the Milky Way was the path, the spirits of the dead take as they are blown from north to south by the north wind.
According to their beliefs, most people are usually sick before they die, so their spiritual path is also very long and resembles the long trail of the Milky Way. The spirits of people who died suddenly in battle or by accident, they travel a much shorter path.
It is believed that these people have been mapping celestial bodies since as early as 1500.
Written by – A. Sutherland AncientPages.com Staff Writer
Copyright © AncientPages.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part without the express written permission of AncientPages.com
Expand for referencesReferences:
Monroe J. G. Williamson R. A. They Dance in the Sky
Hadingham E. Early Man and the Cosmos
More From Ancient Pages
-
How Large Was The ‘Giant’ Dunkleosteus Terrelli – Prehistoric King Of The Oceans?
News | Apr 10, 2023
-
Susanoo-no-Mikoto – Shinto God Of The Sea And Storms Was Banished From Heaven
Featured Stories | Nov 23, 2018
-
Alexander The Great’s Mysterious And Unexplained Encounter In Babylon
Featured Stories | Jul 15, 2021
-
Great Migrations Took Place In Poland And Ukraine In Bronze Age
Archaeology | Sep 8, 2023
-
Ancient Greeks Invented Alarm Clocks
Ancient History Facts | May 6, 2016
-
Two Rare Funerary Busts Rescued From Destruction In Palmyra – Restored In Italy
Archaeology | Feb 25, 2017
-
On This Day In History: The Battle Of Actium – Birth Of The Roman Empire – Sep 2, 31 BC
News | Sep 2, 2015
-
Powerful Chola Rulers Of Southern India: Patrons Of Architecture, Art And Literature
Civilizations | May 4, 2017
-
Fossils In The ‘Cradle Of Humankind’ May Be More Than A Million Years Older Than Previously Thought
Archaeology | Jun 28, 2022
-
Clovis Burial At Anzick Site And New Questions About Early Inhabitants Of North America
Archaeology | Jun 21, 2018
-
Intriguing Collection Of Petroglyphs And Dinosaur Footprints Found At The Serrote do Letreiro Site, Brazil
Archaeology | Mar 20, 2024
-
Intact 2,600-Year-Old Etruscan Tomb Opened In Vulci- Exceptionally Rare Artifacts Found Inside
Archaeology | Oct 31, 2023
-
Secret Ancient World Buried Under The Vast Takla Makan Desert
Featured Stories | Jun 1, 2020
-
Never-Ending Battles Between God Ra And Indestructible Apophis In Ancient Egyptian Beliefs
Egyptian Mythology | May 20, 2021
-
Mysterious And Unexplained Encounter With Unusual Tiny Beings In Italy – The Thing – Part 1
Featured Stories | Jan 15, 2022
-
Undeciphered Ancient Code Could Be Evidence Of The World’s Oldest Data Storage System
Archaeology | Feb 27, 2014
-
World’s Oldest Shoes: Some Look Surprisingly Modern
Artifacts | Jun 22, 2023
-
Impact Of European Contact With Pacific Islands Was Devastating – New Study Reveals
Archaeology | Sep 30, 2022
-
Early European Farmers Traced To Anatolia, DNA Study Shows
Archaeology | Jan 5, 2016
-
Rare Ancient Roman Cauldron Discovered In Central Norway
Archaeology | Sep 16, 2019