African Skies
The planetarium show will explore the African Skies and African
astronomical
mythology. The diverse African peoples have a large body of
cosmological
legendary tales which are short, often humorous, and always
educational.
The sun, moon, and stars were used to keep calendars which was used
to
determine planting, fishing, hunting, and yearly festivals. The
tradition
of using songs to convey information about the sky that would be
useful
to people on earth saw further development in the "Follow
the
Drinking
Gourd" (Follow
the Drinking Gourd Collection story).
African-American slaves used this navigation song to
determine
the direction of their flight to freedom from slavery. The
underground
railroad used the big dipper (Ursa Major) to orient people on which
direction was north in the little dipper (Ursa Minor). Come to
the
planetarium
and you too will learn that the night sky still has useful
information
about life on earth. The PowerPoint
presentation first used on February 4, 2006 for the Drinking
Gourd
portion of the show.
"WANTED
DEAD of ALIVE" the true story of Harriet Tubman., an
Elementary
School perspective.
Harriet
Tubman & the Underground Railroad further Elementary
School perspective and resent political action.
A very interesting site on the differences in the
dirinking gourd song and its uses.
Montgomery
College's
Planetarium
home
page
Web page by Dr. Harold Alden Williams.
Last changed 3:38PM February 5, 2013.