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Reachable Stars Reachable Stars Patterns in the Ethnoastronomy of Eastern North America George E. Lankford THE UNIV ERSITY OF A L ABA MA PRESS Tuscaloosa Copyright © 2007 The University of Alabama Press Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0380 All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Typeface: Garamond ∞ The paper on which this book is printed meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lankford, George E., 1938– Reachable stars : patterns in the ethnoastronomy of eastern North America / George E. Lankford. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-8173-1568-9 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-8173-1568-3 ISBN-13: 978-0-8173-5428-2 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-8173-5428-X 1. Indian cosmology—East (U.S.) 2. Indian cosmology—Great Plains. 3. Indian mythology—East (U.S.) 4. Indian mythology—Great Plains. 5. Ethnoastronomy—East (U.S.) 6. Ethnoastronomy—Great Plains. I. Title. E98.C79L36 2007 305.8971′074—dc22 2006039790 Contents List of Illustrations vii Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 1. Four Ethnoastronomies 20 2. The Star Husband 35 3. The Morning Stars 53 4. The Morning Star of the Winnebago 72 5. Stars in the North: Bears, Biers, and Boats 126 6. The Star Cluster 162 7. The Star Women 182 8. The Path through the Stars 201 9. The Starry Hand 226 vi contents 10. The Serpent in the Stars 240 11. Some Ethnoastronomical Insights 257 Notes 277 Bibliography 279 Index 299 Illustrations Figures 1.1. Location of the four tribal ethnoastronomies 22 2.1. Distribution of the Animal Tricksters oicotype of the Star Husband 44 2.2. Distribution of the Star Boy oicotype of the Star Husband 49 2.3. Distribution of the Animal Tricksters and Porcupine–Star Boy oicotypes 51 3.1. Sirius adjacent to the Milky Way 56 3.2. Distribution of the Star Boy type 59 3.3. Distribution of the Cosmogram type 69 3.4. Distribution of Morning Star traditions 71 4.1. Distribution of the Children of the Sun myth 101 4.2. Distribution of the False Bridegroom/Bead Spitter type with decapitation motif 111 4.3. Hypothesis of relationships of compound myths 113 viii illustr ations 5.1. The constellations near Polaris 127 5.2. Distribution of the Celestial Hunt myth 134 5.3. Distribution of the Brothers and Sister/Obstacle Flight type 151 5.4. Engraving of the Natchez funeral procession 158 5.5. Distribution of the Bier type 159 5.6. Distribution of Ursa Major myth type groups 161 6.1. The Hyades and the Pleiades in Taurus 163 6.2. Distribution of the Dancing Children myth 175 6.3. Distribution of the Brothers and Sister myth, Pleiades group 179 6.4. Distribution of the clusters of Pleiades myths 181 7.1. Distribution of the Star Women myth 194 7.2. Distribution of the Swan Maidens type 199 8.1. A galaxy from outside 202 8.2. Earth’s galaxy from inside 203 8.3. Distribution of the Orpheus tradition 220 9.1. Three images of the “falling sky” in the west 228 illustr ations 9.2. Distribution of the rising and falling sky motif 229 9.3. Constellation of Orion (Greek) versus Hand (Dakota) 230 9.4. Distribution of the Hand type 239 10.1. Scorpio lying across the Milky Way in the southern sky 241 10.2. Distribution of belief in the two major forms of the Great Serpent 244 10.3. Distribution of the Whale Boat myth 247 Tables 1.1. Comparison of four ethnoastronomies 33 2.1. Star Husband myth, Type II: The Porcupine Redaction 45 2.2. Additional Star Boy texts 46 2.3. Thompson’s Arikara coding 46 2.4. Arikara Star Husband texts 46 3.1. The annual cycle of Sirius, the brightest star in the sky 57 4.1. Comparison of plots of ¤ve texts possibly related to Morning Star 81 4.2. Winnebago C