 |
Opirikuts, Morning Star
|
The Wolf Band of the Pawnee, also known as the Skidi, lived on
the plains of southeastern Nebraska, along the tributaries of
the Missouri River. They were village Indians and built lodges
of earth. In late spring, they planted corn, beans and squash,
and when planting was done in June they packed up and set out
on their summer hunt for bison. During these treks they lived
in tipis as they trailed the animals that counted so strongly
for hides as well as for meat. On returning from the hunt, it
was time for harvest. Following that, there was time for the Skidi
to be more at ease before a second buffalo hunt in winter. This
was a time for storytelling, a time for the elders to pass on
their wisdom to the young, a time to reflect on the traditions
and ceremonies of their clan.
Tipis of the Plains Indians, including the Arapaho, Kiowa, and
Blackfoot, as well as the Pawnee, were often decorated with celestial
symbols. Animals, such as bears and elk, were also used in these
designs, which were sometimes depictions of the traditional star-lore
stories. The illustration here, showing the four-pointed Morning
Star, with bears and cedar trees, is adapted from They Dance
in the Sky by Monroe and Williamson.
The Skidi were keenly aware of the stars and the planets. They
watched them nightly for guidance in their daily lives. The stories
they told were keys to their success in keeping to the ritual
of planting, hunting, harvest and worship. An example would be
the appearance just before dawn of two stars they called the Swimming
Ducks. This was a foretelling of the coming of spring. These stars
are in the tail of the constellation Scorpius, Lambda and Upsilon
Scorpii.
In particular, the Skidi revered Morning Star and watched this
powerful warrior for advice in their affairs. They wished to follow
his example of bravery in battle. This “star” was Mars;
Venus was Evening Star.
In the Skidi story of creation, all things begin with Tirawa,
the supreme One Above, who made the heavens and the stars. Morning
Star began his journey in the east, traveling in search of Evening
Star, who lived in the west. Each time Morning Star advanced,
Evening Star placed obstacles in his way that he must overcome.
[It is uncanny how like the Labors of Hercules is this Pawnee
myth.] Among Morning Star’s tasks were to bring a cradleboard
from a lodge in the heavens. He had to provide water to fall as
rain and keep Evening Star's garden green. But these and other
tasks he did accomplish, and eventually he came to the lodge of
Evening Star. Yet even then, Morning Star had to conquer the four
guards, Black Star, representing night, Yellow Star, representing
sunset, White Star of the snow, and Red Star of summer. Now he
had earned the right of marriage to Evening Star. Their daughter
descended to Earth and married a boy who was the child of the
Sun and the Moon. They grew and prospered and were the grandparents
of all the people.
Perhaps the tasks were symbolized by the conjunctions as Mars
neared one of the brighter stars along its passage from east to
west and, overcoming it, proceeded in triumph; or it may be that
each time the planet paused in its westward path and turned in
retrograde motion, the Skidi thought of it as a reenactment of
one of the encounters.
Mars is now our own Morning Star, rising about three hours before
the Sun. It is located in the constellation of Leo, near the lion’s
tail, Denebola, moving eastward into Virgo. It will not be of
brave and commanding brilliance, however, for it will brighten
only from magnitude 1.8 to 1.3 at year’s end. By next June,
however, the red planet will have achieved opposition, presenting
a disk of just over 20 seconds of arc, the best since 1988. But
even better, wait until August 2003, when Mars will approach to
within 0.373 a.u., the closest it has been to Earth since August
1924, when the Eastbay Astronomical Society was just five months
old!