Journals

The Mursi and Borana are two indigenous groups inhabiting areas relatively close together in southern Ethiopia and (in the Borana case) northern Kenya. Elements of their very different calendrical systems were recorded by ethnographers in the mid-twentieth century. Both systems provide excellent case studies that counter a number of assumptions about the nature and development of indigenous calendars that are too easily made from a “Western” standpoint.

This chapter examines two foci of cultural astronomy found in Africa south of the Sahara: creation myths and celestial art. The examples highlighted are from the Akan, the Bahima, the Boshongo, the Fon, the Igbo, the Mambila, the Yoruba, and the Zulu people.

The cultural Astronomy of Southern African peoples has been a subject of many studies spanning atleast over a century. Some of the studies were biased against the notion that Southern African could have any interest in studying the natural environment to benefit their societies. In this chapter, I summarize the current knowledge about cultural Astronomy of Southern African peoples and highlight points of further research.

The African perspectives of astronomy are explored from the point of view of using indigenous knowledge of the night sky for purposes of addressing local challenges such as food insecurity and periodic natural weather phenomena such as droughts and floods.The local ethnic groups use stellar positions, and plant and animal behaviour changes for purposes of forecasting the weather and climate for the coming seasons.These traditional indicators give rise to an interdisciplinary discourse that could benefit the community in environmental protection measures and boost the tourism industry in some countries in Africa.