Eclipses and 2,000 Years of Knowledge
Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge has finally been adopted by Science
The establishment of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy happened on August 22, 1142. during a total solar eclipse. The Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga and Seneca Nations had agreed to the confederation, but the Onondaga Nation was still hesitant. It is said that the eclipse was the final deciding factor in their decision to join the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.1
The earliest recorded evidence of a solar eclipse by Indigenous people of North America is found in Chaco Canyon, where the ancestral Puebloan Peoples recorded the sun on a rock depicting a solar eclipse, by showing a corona around the sun. Archaeologists date this pteroglyph to the solar eclipse of July 11, 1097.
The Chumash Nation in California recorded the solar eclipse of November 24, 1677. This rock painting is a large black sun with two red circles below, representing two stars that were present during that eclipse. These can be seen in the Chumash Painted Cave State Historical Park. The State of California simply says that the meaning of the paintings have been lost2 but the Chumash Nation retains this oral history.
In 1869, several Lakota Tribes recorded a solar eclipse as a significant event by including it in the winter count recording, which is kept on a bison hide. The winter count was kept by several record keepers including Lone Dog, The Flame, The Swan, and Rosebud. This record is considered to be the August 7, 1869 solar eclipse that passed through Lakota territory.3
Lone Dog Winter Count with eclipse inset. (Courtesy of National Anthropological Archives)
The traditional histories of these solar eclipses probably led to the ability of the Shawnee Prophet, Tenskwatawa, brother of Tecumseh, to be able to predict that in 50 days there would be a solar eclipse thereby sealing his leadership position for life.
The story goes that in 1806, the Governor of the Territory of Indiana, William Henry Harrison (the one who was later the 9th President of the United States) challenged the authority of Tecumseh and the Shawnee Prophet. Out of fear of their leadership, Gov. Harrison demanded in a letter dated April 12, 1806 that the followers of The Prophet ask him to "cause the sun to stand still — the moon to alter its course — the rivers (to) cease to flow — or the dead to rise from their graves. If he does these things you may then believe he has been sent from God."4 Apparently with the ability to predict the eclipse, Tenskwatawa upon hearing the challenge is said to have replied, that in 50 days, when the sun is at its highest in the sky, "the Great Spirit take it into her hand and hide it from us."5 When the eclipse occurred it surely and firmly confirmed the brothers’ leadership.
There is a strong tradition of astronomy in many Native American Tribes with long records of observations of the sun, moon, stars, movement of the planets and other phenomena of the skies. The Lakota Tribes use astronomy for timing ceremonies and plantings as well as for survival.6 Meteorite showers have long been recorded by Native American Tribes, like “The Year the Stars Fell,” in 1833 and what is called the Leonid Meteorite shower began a connection with the Lakota’s astronomers and western astronomers. The Potowatami Star Map has been digitized.7 There are many more Native American and Indigenous Tribes around the world engaged in astronomy8 So it would be a great loss to humanity not to utilize all that we know about the skies through collaboration with western science that does not isolate itself in a false sense of structure to the exclusion of all the rich collection of two millenia of knowledge about the universe.
This accumulation of Indigenous Traditional Knowledge has long been overlooked for its value to western science in understanding ecological phenomena and processes. That seems to be changing somewhat with recent formal recognition of its value to the federal government.
Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge
The collection of knowledge over generations and the accumulation of knowledge about the environment and processes of it, by Indigenous people who are close to the environment is labeled as “Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge” or ITEK.
It varies from western methods of science which involve the scientific method of first forming a hypothesis where, if something happens then this will occur (if you put a cup of water in 32 degrees F, then it will freeze in an hour). Then you design an experiment to test that hypothesis (and in our example we would put a cup of water in a freezer that is 32 degrees F, and wait an hour). We would then discuss the results and write a conclusion (the water froze at 32 degrees F., so we can conclude that a cup of water will freeze at 32 degrees F in an hour.) This has to be repeatable and thus, meet the standards of western science.
ITEK is collected over time, and in the case of the knowledge of the eclipse it has been collected over two millenia. There is value in being able to observe ecological phenomena over such a long period of time, and some may argue is even more reliable than the scientific method that is only a snapshot in time especially with processes like eclipses. But because this ITEK is not tested using western methods, it has long been rejected as part of any science discussion or research, until now.
In January 26, 2021, Pres. Biden signed an Executive Order requiring that all federal agencies begin a process of updating and improving their consultation process with Native Nations for activities that would affect their traditional lands or activities.9 Following this E.O., in 2021, a joint Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP) and the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) a joint memo from OSTP and CEQ (Nov 2021) to direct departments to consider Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge in their decisionmaking and formally recognizes the contribution of Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge (ITEK) to federal scientific and policy processes. I wrote about this conflict in January 2023.10
A definition adopted for ITEK is:
“ITEK is a body of observations, oral and written knowledge, practices, and beliefs that promotes environmental sustainability and the responsible stewardship of natural resources through relationships between humans and environmental systems. It is applied to phenomena across biological, physical, cultural, and spiritual systems.” 11
In implementing the Executive Order, now three years in development, the most recent agency to release its new consultation with tribes policy is the U.S. EPA, in December 2023, and there is no mention of consideration of ITEK as part of that process.12 It is broad enough to consider ITEK but it was not incorporated into its checklist, losing an opportunity.
However, December 2022 guidance for incorporating ITEK in decisionmaking processes was released by the Executive Office of the President (EOP).13 This was the next document to follow the joint MOU between OSTP and CEQ regarding the use of ITEK in decisionmaking.14 In this guidance, the EOP formally directed agencies to include ITEK in science research funding, which is a big step in learning from millenia of accumulated knowledge.
Like the stories of the observations of the solar eclipses over two millenia, this is not science that can be recreated in a laboratory or with the scientific method, and so it is an ideal example for those in western science to understanding and valuing the contributions of traditional ecological knowledge (ITEK).
Over place and time
As you watch (with appropriate eyewear) the solar eclipse or sit quietly contemplating its epic-ness, there will be a special bond over time and place with our mutual experience, almost simultaneously on earth. There is also the shared experience and mutual bond with our past—we share this with our ancestors and predecessors who observed the same sun and moon in a solar eclipse over time of at least two millenia.
https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/centuries-of-indigenous-knowledge-is-found-along-the-path-of-the-total-solar-eclipse
https://www.parks.ca.gov
https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/centuries-of-indigenous-knowledge-is-found-along-the-path-of-the-total-solar-eclipse
https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/local/2024/04/04/how-tecumseh-used-the-1806-total-eclipse-in-ohio-to-his-advantage/72931327007/
https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/local/2024/04/04/how-tecumseh-used-the-1806-total-eclipse-in-ohio-to-his-advantage/72931327007/
https://globalpressjournal.com/americas/tribal-nations/lakota-traditional-astronomy-key-cultures-past-future/
https://wiwkwebthegen.com/system/files/atoms/image/Potawatomi%20constellation%20star%20map%20by%20Kyle%20Malott.jpg
https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-1-4020-4425-0_8459
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/26/memorandum-on-tribal-consultation-and-strengthening-nation-to-nation-relationships/
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/111521-OSTP-CEQ-ITEK-Memo.pdf
https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-12/epa-policy-on-consultation-with-indian-tribes-2023_0.pdf
https://www.whitehouse.gov/ceq/news-updates/2022/12/01/white-house-releases-first-of-a-kind-indigenous-knowledge-guidance-for-federal-agencies/
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/OSTP-CEQ-IK-Guidance.pdf