Songlines and Navigation in Wardaman and other Australian Aboriginal\n Cultures

2014/04/09 by R. P. Norris, Norris, Ray P., Bill Yidumduma Harney +1
Social Sciences · #Australian Indigenous Culture and History #FOS: Physical sciences #History and Philosophy of Physics (physics.hist-ph) #Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM)

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1404.2361

openalex publication_date 2014/04/09 · openalex created_date 2022/10/03 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

We discuss the songlines and navigation of the Wardaman people, and place\nthem in context by comparing them with corresponding practices in other\nAustralian Aboriginal language groups, using previously unpublished information\nand also information drawn from the literature. Songlines are effectively oral\nmaps of the landscape, enabling the transmission of oral navigational skills in\ncultures that do not have a written language. In many cases, songlines on the\nearth are mirrored by songlines in the sky, enabling the sky to be used as a\nnavigational tool, both by using it as a compass, and by using it as a mnemonic\n

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