350 Best Of: How Understanding Indigenous Astronomy Can Help You Go Outside (Carl Gawboy, Ojibwe star story expert)

Modern American culture uses Greek mythology to refer to stars and constellations in the night sky. But a rich tradition of Native American astronomy and indigenous star stories is out there, too, waiting for us to learn it. Better yet? Learning star stories can help us chart the seasons and help us enjoy heading outside. 

In this episode of Humans Outside Carl Gawboy, a Native American astronomer, Native Skywatchers elder and Ojibwe artist based in Minnesota, guides us through his groundbreaking work in Ojibwe star stories and what they can mean to us today. At almost 80, Carl shares a lifetime of work, study and cultural understanding with us. 

Connect with this episode: 

Learn about Native Skywatchers

Learn about Carl Gawboy’s art

Read the Forest Service pamphlet that doesn’t recognize the star stories

Learn more about the Hegman Lake pictographs

The Sun Dagger documentary

Talking Sky by Carl Gawboy and Ron Mortin

Join the Humans Outside Challenge

Follow Humans Outside on Instagram

Follow Humans Outside on Facebook

Some of the good stuff:

[3:32] Carl Gawboy’s favorite outdoor space

[5:55] How Carl became someone who likes to go outside

[7:31] How indigenous star stories because a part of his journey

[16:32] How he discovered the connection of Ojibwe pictographs to star stories

[26:19] What the Hegman Lake pictographs mean

[32:05] The Ojibwe words for what’s in those pictographs

[34:00] What do you indigenous star stories teach us about our world today?

[38:19] How Carl’s artwork and star stories connect to simplicity

[42:29] The role of myth in understanding our world

[45:44] Using star stories to chart the year

[48:57] How to learn more about star stories wherever you are