EAGER: Documenting Gwich'in indigenous astronomy

EAGER：记录 Gwichin 本土天文学

• 批准号: 1317245
• 负责人: Gary Holton
• 金额: $ 2.75万
• 依托单位: University of Alaska Fairbanks Campus
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-07-01 至 2016-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1317245&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAGER; Documenting; Gwich; indigenous; astronomy

This EAGER project under the direction of PI Gary Holton takes advantage of a unique opportunity to assess the feasibility of documenting indigenous astronomy in Alaska and Canada. Although astronomy is a fundamental component of all Alaska Native cultures, there has so far been no systematic effort to document indigenous knowledge of the Alaskan sky. Rapid change in traditional land use has led to this astronomical knowledge being even more endangered than the indigenous languages themselves. In this pilot project we focus on Gwich?in, the most viable of Alaska?s Dene (Athabaskan) languages. Extrapolating on more than a year of archival research, the project will work with culture bearers in the Alaska Gwich?in region to document Gwich?in terminology for starts, constellations, and astronomical events. The project will coordinate closely with work in progress with Canadian Gwich?in being conducted under the auspices of the Gwich?in Social and Cultural Institute. Finally, the project will seek to corroborate the existence of several major cosmological themes, which permeate Northern Dene languages. The primary project deliverable will be a report describing Gwich?in knowledge of the sky, along with star charts localized to the Gwich?in region. These materials will be made available through the Alaska Native Language Archive to be used by both scholars and educators. In addition to linguist Holton, project participants include Leslie McCarthy, Curator of Oral History at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and Chris Cannon, graduate student and astronomy educator.

这个 EAGER 项目在 PI Gary Holton 的指导下，利用了一个独特的机会来评估记录阿拉斯加和加拿大本土天文学的可行性。尽管天文学是所有阿拉斯加原住民文化的基本组成部分，但迄今为止还没有系统性的努力来记录阿拉斯加天空的原住民知识。传统土地用途的快速变化导致这种天文知识比土著语言本身更加濒临灭绝。在这个试点项目中，我们重点关注 Gwich?in，这是阿拉斯加最可行的 Dene（阿萨巴斯卡）语言。该项目将根据一年多的档案研究进行推断，与阿拉斯加格威奇地区的文化传承者合作，用有关开始、星座和天文事件的术语记录格威奇。该项目将与加拿大 Gwich?in 正在进行的工作密切协调，这些工作是在 Gwich?in 社会和文化研究所的赞助下进行的。最后，该项目将寻求证实几个主要宇宙论主题的存在，这些主题渗透到北德内语中。主要项目交付成果将是一份描述格威治天空知识的报告，以及格威治地区本地化的星图。这些材料将通过阿拉斯加母语档案馆提供，供学者和教育工作者使用。除了语言学家霍尔顿之外，项目参与者还包括阿拉斯加大学费尔班克斯分校口述历史馆长莱斯利·麦卡锡（Leslie McCarthy）和研究生兼天文学教育家克里斯·坎农（Chris Cannon）。

项目成果

A Newly Documented Whole‑Sky Circumpolar Constellation in Alaskan Gwich’in

新记录的整个阿拉斯加格威奇天空绕极星座

• 发表时间: 2014
• 期刊: Arctic anthropology
• 影响因子: 0.5
• 作者: Cannon, Chris;Holton, Gary
• 通讯作者: Holton, Gary