Tipis and Telescopes, the name of the gathering, is a coming-together of far-flung Indigenous teachers, local youth community leaders, and, tonight, one science reporter from the United States. This weekend is an example of that effort.
He’s a part of a growing effort to reintroduce Indigenous stories and traditions back to Cree and other Indigenous communities. Some of those stories are part of how Indigenous people made sense of the world around them-a form of science separate from, but with kinship to, the enterprise of observation, prediction, and questioning built around what we call the scientific method.īut how do you connect the two? That’s where Wilfred comes in. In North American communities, the stars hold bears, sweat lodges, thunderbirds, and more. But just as the people of early Western civilizations looked to the stars and told stories about them, so did Indigenous people around the world. When most of us look at the night sky, we’re used to seeing stories not of Indigenous origin, but of Greek or Roman: Andromeda chained to a rock, Perseus staring down a sea monster, Hercules slaying a lion. He’s telling us stories he’s gathered from Indigenous communities across Manitoba-like how the Star Woman saw Earth from another dimension, fell through the hole in the sky, and became the first human on this planet. Wilfred is Cree, also known as Ininew, one of Canada’s largest First Nations groups. And the hole in the sky is where we come from.” Wilfred Buck. “Right below the grandmother spider is the Pleiades, the seven sisters,” says Buck. It’s early May, but I’m wearing three sweaters and huddled next to a crackling, popping campfire, listening to Buck tell us the stories behind constellations I’ve never heard of until tonight. It’s a freezing cold night on the shore of Lake Winnipeg in rural Manitoba, Canada, and we are waiting for the stars.
Listen to a conversation on Science Friday about the historical role of science in Indigenous communities and considering a broader definition of science.
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