Notes about The Wichis and their readings of the sky

MARIANI, MAURO; GÓMEZ, CECILIA PAULA; GIMÉNEZ BENÍTEZ, SIXTO

Ciudad del Cabo

Simposio; Astronomy, Indigenous Knowledge, and Interpretation. Oxford X, Symposium on Archeaoastronomy; 2014

University of the Western Cape Town, ISAAC and National Research Foundation. South African Astronomy Observatory

[Poster] The name "Wichí" has been given to hunter-gatherer groups making up the Mataco-Maká linguistic family together with other ethnic groups such as the Chorote, Maká, and Nivaclé. Today, they total around 40,000 Indians scattered over a territory covering nearly 100,000 km2 (62,137 sq. mi). The Wichí conceive the sky as another earth, another place to live, which is also inhabited by "persons". The sky, however, is part of the non-Wichí world; its inhabitants are strangers or outsiders as well as powerful beings. Hence, the Wichí existence is always linked to the behaviour of these celestial beings and to the relationship established with them. A careful and balanced relationship with these beings is essential to Wichí survival.