DDRIG: Northern Dene Astronomy

天球也许是自然界中唯一没有被人类显著改变的领域，也是社会科学家必须在所有世界文化中研究的少数常量之一。北方Dene提供了北美最好的机会之一，记录和描述土著天文学系统。然而，拟议中的研究是特别时间敏感的，因为最近的快速语言转变与现代技术相结合，几乎取代了传统上利用天文学的每一个方面，导致传统天文学知识体系的废弃和侵蚀。北方Dene天文学的文献为比较不同文化的土著天文知识提供了一个基线，因此对于理解Dene的宇宙概念化至关重要。Dene天文学还提供了对文化，生活方式和宇宙学更广泛方面的见解;因此，这项研究将对相关学科的学者有用，包括语言学，认知学，地理学和天文学。天文学也引起了自然的好奇心之间北方Dene社区和更广泛的公众，因此可以很容易地融入学校课程和教育推广programmes.Paragraph 2 This项目支持论文研究与北方Dene的合作者，以更好地了解土著的天文学概念。虽然天文学是所有Dene文化的基本组成部分，但迄今为止还没有系统的努力来记录Dene对天空的知识。传统土地利用的快速变化导致这种天文知识比原住民语言本身更加濒危。本研究建立在对阿拉斯加Gwich'in的初步研究的基础上，包括北方Dene地区的其他民族语言群体。实地工作将在阿拉斯加和加拿大的几个社区进行，与拥有专业天文学知识的北方Dene传统传承者合作。这项研究将提供急需的基线文件北方Dene的天空知识，同时也试图了解天体和大气现象是如何利用的北方Dene在文化背景下，如导航，时间推算，天气预报和宇宙学。与Dene天文学的使用有关的具体调查领域包括：关于恒星和星座的知识，北方光，流星，彗星，大气晕和太阳狗（幻日），太阳和月亮。所有研究都将与社区成员合作进行。研究结果将被纳入正在进行的社区学校课程开发和公共天文馆programming.This奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

Paragraph 1The celestial sphere is perhaps the only realm of the natural world that has not been significantly altered by humans and is one of the few constants that social scientists have to work with across all world cultures. The Northern Dene provides one of the best remaining opportunities in North America to document and describe an Indigenous astronomy system. However, the proposed research is particularly time sensitive as recent rapid language shift combined with modern technology has replaced nearly every aspect in which astronomy was traditionally utilized, leading to the disuse and erosion of traditional astronomy knowledge systems. Documentation of Northern Dene astronomy provides a baseline for comparison of Indigenous astronomical knowledge across cultures, and is thus fundamental to understanding Dene conceptualization of the cosmos. Dene astronomy also provides insights into broader aspects of culture, life-way, and cosmology; hence, this research will be useful by scholars in related disciplines, including linguistics, cognition, geography, and astronomy. Astronomy also arouses natural curiosity among Northern Dene communities and the broader public, and thus can be readily integrated in school curricula and education outreach programs.Paragraph 2This project supports dissertation research with Northern Dene collaborators in order to better understand Indigenous concepts of astronomy. Although astronomy is a fundamental component of all Dene cultures, there has so far been no systematic effort to document Dene knowledge of the sky. Rapid change in traditional land use has led to this astronomical knowledge being even more endangered than the Indigenous languages themselves. This study builds on initial research with the Alaskan Gwich'in to include additional ethnolinguistic groups within the Northern Dene region. Field work will be conducted in several communities in Alaska and Canada, working with Northern Dene tradition bearers who have specialized astronomy knowledge. This study will provide much needed baseline documentation on Northern Dene knowledge of the sky, while also seeking to understand how celestial objects and atmospheric phenomena are utilized by the Northern Dene in cultural contexts, such as in navigation, time-reckoning, weather forecasting, and cosmology. Specific areas of inquiry related to the uses of Dene astronomy include: knowledge about stars and constellations, the northern lights, meteors, comets, atmospheric halos and sun dogs (parhelia), the sun and moon. All research will be conducted collaboratively with community members. The results of the research will be incorporated into ongoing community school curricula development and public planetarium programming.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.