09/08/2020 – Ephemeris – The Anishinaabe folk saw a moose where we see Pegasus

This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, September 8th. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 51 minutes, setting at 8:05, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:15. The Moon, 2 days before last quarter, will rise at 11:14 this evening.

Yesterday I talked a bit about the constellation of Pegasus the flying horse ascendant in the east these September evenings. The Anishinaabe peoples of our area had no horses until after the Europeans arrived, but they did imagine a large four legged mammal here, the Mooz or Moose, spelled M-o-o-z and pronounced something like Moonz*. The Moose is upright, or will be when he is in the south. In the evening now he is in the east, his body is a large square of stars we call the Great Square of Pegasus standing on one corner. From the top star extend his neck and head. His great antlers cover the official constellation of Lacerta the lizard made of a zigzag of unremarkable faint stars. Unlike Pegasus the whole moose made it into the sky.

The event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Mooz finder animation displaying both Western Pegasus and Lacerta constellations and Anishinaabe Mooz constellation for 10 pm in early September. Credit Stellarium (both star lore images are embedded in Stellarium). The Anishinaabe image is from Ojibwe Giizhig Anung Masinaaigan – Ojibiwe Sky Star Map created by A. Lee, W. Wilson, and C. Gawboy.

*Information on Mooz and its pronunciation can be found in the Ojibwe Peoples Dictionary at https://ojibwe.lib.umn.edu/main-entry/mooz-na. The language of the Ojibwe, Ojibwemowin is another name for Anishinaabemowin, the language of the Anishinaabe peoples.

07/30/2019 – Ephemeris – Finding the Little Dipper

Ephemeris for Tuesday, July 30th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 44 minutes, setting at 9:11, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:27. The Moon, 1 day before new, will rise at 5:37 tomorrow morning.

11 p.m. is the best time now to spot the Little Dipper. It is difficult to spot, being much smaller and dimmer than the Big Dipper. However it is the Big Dipper that points to it, by the two stars at the front of the bowl of the Big Dipper to point to the North Star, Polaris, the star that doesn’t appear to move. That is the tip of the handle of the Little Dipper. The handle is seen in a curve of the stars upwards and a bit to the left to a small box of stars that is its bowl. The two brighter stars at the front of the bowl are called the Guard Stars because they guard the pole. The Little Dipper is not an official constellation, but is Ursa Minor the lesser bear. To the Anishinaabe native peoples of this area it represents a loon.

The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Little Dipper finder animation. The Little Dipper is also Ursa Minor and the Loon. Polaris is the Pole Star and North Star. The Guard Stars are Kochab and Pherkad. Except for the named stars, the Little Dipper stars are quite faint and require moonless skies away from the city to spot. Chick on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.

The loon image constellation art is part of the latest versions of Stellarium. Ojibwe (Anishinaabe) constellation art by Annette S Lee and William Wilson from Ojibwe Sky Star Map Constellation Guide, by A. Lee, W Wilson, C Gawboy, J. Tibbetts.  ISBN 978-0-615-98678-4.

03/16/2017 – Ephemeris – Curly Tail, The Great Underwater Panther

Ephemeris for Thursday, March 16th.  The Sun will rise at 7:52.  It’ll be up for 11 hours and 57 minutes, setting at 7:50.  The Moon, half way from full to last quarter, will rise at 12:03 tomorrow morning.

The Anishinabek people of the Great Lakes Region, which includes the Ottawa, Chippewa and Ojibwe Indians have two constellations of winter that I know of.  The first is The Winter Maker which uses many of Orion’s stars plus Procyon the Little Dog Star.  It rises in the eastern skies in the evening as winter is beginning.  The second is the Curly Tail, the Great Underwater Panther.  Which uses the stars of Leo the lion’s backward question mark as its tail and the small knot of stars that are the head of Hydra the water snake below Cancer as its head.  I imagine this constellation was a warning to youngsters to keep off the thinning ice of spring, lest they fall in and be snatched by the great underwater panther that lives beneath the ice.

Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addendum

An animated GIF rotating between an unannotated star field facing south at 10 p.m. March 16th.; Western constellation names and lines for Orion, Hydra, and Leo; Western constellation art, Ojibwe constellation names and lines; and Ojibwe constellation art. Created using Stellarium. The Ojibwe constellation art is supplied as part of the latest version of Stellarium.  Click on the image to enlarge.

The source for the Ojibwe constellation art is from Ojibwe Sky Star Map Constellation Guide (An introduction to Ojibwe Star Knowledge) by Annette S. Lee, William Wilson, Jeffrey Tibbetts, and Carl Gawboy, ISBN 978-0-615-98678-4.  The illustrations are by Annette S. Lee and William Wilson.  There is also a poster sized star map available.  It should be available in book stores locally, or at Amazon.  I found my copy at Enerdyne in Suttons Bay.

Also shown is the Pleiades, which to the Ojibwe is Hole in the Sky, which has to do with the Shaking Tent Ceremony.  The Pleiades is also known as the Sweating Stones, the heated stones used in the Sweat Lodge Ceremony.  In the later spring sky the Sweat Lodge itself is seen in the stars of the Western Corona Borealis.

Note:  As far as tribe names go:  Ottawa = Odawa, and Chippewa = Ojibwe.