Customer Reviews

The Stars We Know: Crow Indian Astronomy and Lifeways

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In the New Age, hanging out with the 'star people' is one of the favorite activities of the cotton-candy fluff crowd. Instead of the superficial 'sweetness and light' one finds in that type of approach, Tim McCleary documents the words of the Crow people themselves. An anthropologist, he speaks the Crow language, and he was also adopted into a Crow family, where knowledge of the stars is usually passed on only through family membership ties. He also teaches at the Crow college, Little Big Horn College http://www.lbhc.cc.mt.us/.

The foreword by Claire Farrer is an education in itself, being a survey of many of the major works on native peoples, their astronomical systems, and what those systems tell us about the native cultures. Many explore quite in depth how those cultures not only viewed life, but used the stars and constellations in a way that had an impact on their daily lives, particularly when it came to planting and harvesting crops. She does however leave out Anthony Aveni, the father of archaeoastronomy.

Talking to many Crow elders, Dr. McCleary recorded their words of what is known about the meaning, use, and purpose of the Crow (Absaroke) constellations. Many are used to keep track of the seasons and weather. Not only when the changes were coming, but even how severe the entire winter season might be, for instance. Sadly, some of this knowledge has vanished. Two constellations are named but the actual stars they refer to and the stories for them are no longer known.

A chart with the 14 Crow stars and constellations and their correlation to those more commonly taught in contemporary Western European astronomy will be referred back to quite often. While occasional mention is made of medicine men showing someone how to connect with stars and constellations, no details of how to do that are given. In a personal communication, the author told me that about a third of the elders he had talked to have passed on, making the oral history found in this book that much more valuable.

Only 127 pages, the ten chapter book includes one chapter on the stars and the sweatlodge. The section on further readings is a `best of the best' of works about the Crow people only; it's not a comprehensive `Native American astronomy list'. The foreword more than adequately provides that list.

If you want a book on indigenous peoples and their philosophies and practices regarding the stars, that emphasizes practice rather than academic documentation and sometimes speculation, this is one I would suggest.

I had bought this for a class and was very pleased with the info. But what pleased me even more was the fact that it is not a huge book. Knowing you do not have to read such a huge book for a class makes it that much more enjoyable to read. But overall, found the content very interesting and was extremely happy with being assigned this book to read.