On the cover: The steep walls of Candor Chasma, a Martian canyon, show more than 100 layers of rock, each about 10 meters thick, which may have formed at the bottom of an ancient lake. This Mars Global Surveyor image covers roughly 1.6 by 0.9 miles.
Native Skies
Watery Evidence
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March/April 2001
Long before Europeans landed on American shores, people native to North America were watching the heavens. They tracked the motions of the Sun to help them decide when to plant crops, move their camps, or stage sacred rituals. They drew constellations among the patterns of bright stars. They crafted explanations for meteor showers and the northern lights, and saw a pathway to the afterlife in the Milky Way.
Some tribes built great circles of stones to help them predict the changing seasons. Others built great ceremonial centers in alignment with the Sun and stars. And still others built great mounds of earth to reflect the patterns they saw in the heavens.
All of these activities were attempts to build order into the heavens as well as their daily lives. They reflected a close bond between the people and their environment -- in the sky and on the ground. And they reflected an even closer bond between the secular and the sacred: The Sun, Moon, and stars were not just physical objects following well-defined paths across the sky, they were gifts from the gods. They told the people where they came from, where they were going, and how to live their lives.
This issue of StarDate describes some of the bonds between American Indians and the heavens in the feature "Native Skies."
Read archived news from StarDate magazine in the Resources section.
Every issue of StarDate also includes monthly star charts and stargazing highlights, plus stunning astronomical images.
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