DDRIG: Northern Dene Astronomy

天球可能是自然界中唯一没有被人类显著改变的领域，也是社会科学家在所有世界文化中必须研究的少数常量之一。北德涅河提供了北美现存最好的记录和描述土著天文系统的机会之一。然而，拟议的研究对时间特别敏感，因为最近快速的语言变化和现代技术已经取代了传统上利用天文学的几乎所有方面，导致传统天文学知识体系的废弃和侵蚀。北德涅河天文学文献为比较不同文化间的土著天文知识提供了基线，因此对理解德涅河流域的宇宙概念化是基本的。德内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。天文学也引起了北部德涅河流域社区和更广泛公众的自然好奇心，因此可以很容易地纳入学校课程和教育推广方案。第2段本项目支持与北德涅河流域合作者进行论文研究，以便更好地理解土著天文学概念。虽然天文学是所有德内文化的基本组成部分，但到目前为止，还没有系统的努力来记录德内的天空知识。传统土地使用的快速变化导致这种天文知识甚至比土著语言本身更危险。这项研究建立在与阿拉斯加Gwich‘in人的初步研究基础上，将北部德涅河地区的其他民族语言群体包括在内。将在阿拉斯加和加拿大的几个社区进行实地工作，与具有专门天文学知识的北德尼传统传承者合作。这项研究将提供急需的关于北德涅河地区天空知识的基线文件，同时也试图了解北德涅河地区如何在导航、时间计算、天气预报和宇宙学等文化背景下利用天体和大气现象。与德内天文学的使用有关的具体研究领域包括：关于恒星和星座、北极光、流星、彗星、大气晕和太阳狗(日冕)、太阳和月亮的知识。所有研究都将与社区成员合作进行。这项研究的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计划。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.