DINALEDI [dee-nah-lay-dee]

Translation:  ‘Stars’  (from Sotho, Pedi, Tswana)

The Earth is a small, rocky ball moving around the Sun, which happens to be a giant star. Well that’s what we know for sure today, thanks to scientists. In ancient times, many people believed otherwise. For instance, the people of southern Africa, believed that the Earth was flat and the sky was like a dome that covered the Earth, with the sun moving across it.  At night, the sun moved across the sky and light shined through the dome sky as what we know to be the stars.

It’s been about 4.5 billion years since the Earth began its journey around the Sun. All the while, the stars in the sky have always, always been there. Scientists believe the universe to be about 13.8 billion years. In all that time many stars and galaxies (clusters of stars) have been born and many have died too. Overtime, the skies have also been used to give guidance and insight to people, about weather patterns, harvesting seasons, cultural practices.

The Sotho people compromising of Basotho, Bapedi and Batswana are the most dominant African population in Pretoria. We look into how they have viewed the stars in the southern sky.

Sun known as ‘Letsatsi’ [le-tsah-tsi]

Is the biggest star closest to the Earth and seems much bigger than the stars we see at night.

Moon known as ‘Ngwedi’ [ng-weh-dee]

The moon’s surface has flat lava plains (darker regions) and rocky highlands (lighter regions). It varies in its appearance in the sky, known as the ‘phases of the moon’. It was believed that when the crescent moon was facing up it kept away diseases which it carried and once it pointed down it would spill disease over the people. We only ever get to see one side of the moon as it rotates around the Earth.

Stars known as ‘Dinaledi’

Stars in the sky making up a pattern are called a constellation. This is different from a cluster of stars, called a galaxy, which is millions and billions of stars with their own planets. People often viewed constellations as animals, gods or ancestors with stories of their own (since the sky and the Earth were viewed as separate). Some common constellations, easily visible to the eye in the southern sky are:

• Southern Cross (Crux) ‘Dithutlwa’ [dee-two-tl-wah]

the Crux assists to navigate South. The stars of the pointer are believed to be female giraffes and the bright stars of the cross to be the male giraffes.

• Orion’s Belt ‘Dikolobe’ [dhi-ko-lo-bhe]

refers to the three bright stars in a short line which were believed to be warthogs.

• Sirius ‘Kgogamashego/ Kgogamasigo’ [kgo-gah-mah-sheh-go]

is the brightest star, opposite Orion and dominates the morning sky in July. Literally means ‘Drawer up of the nights’, seeing this star indicates dusk

• Canopus ‘Naka’ [nah-kah]

the second brightest star in the Southern sky, appearing towards the end of May, signifies the start of winter season. Men would be on the lookout for it’s first appearance and the first to spot it would blow the horn. It was believed that they would have great luck from this. In the Sotho culture, the chief would even reward this person with a heifer. Naka translates to ‘horn’.

• Pleiades (Seven sisters) ‘Selemela’ [se-le-me-lah]

this cluster of six or seven very bright stars was known to be seen around the time when the ground was to be ploughed (end of June) and symbolized a new year.

***Navigation tip:

The Sotho and Tswana have a saying that if you want to travel west, keep the Southern Cross on your left hand, and Selemela on the right.

References:

Astronomical Society of Southern Africa & South African Astronomy Observatory. African ethnoastronomy. www.assa.saao.ac.za (references on website) | Laney, D (1998). A poster on African starlore. SAAO. | Staff of the Science Awareness Programme at Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory and Leanne Rusznyak. Astronomy Notes for Educators. HartRAO and SARAO. | African Ivory Route. BaPedi people. www.africanivoryroute.co.za | Johan Kruger. New stamps glow with the stars of the southern skies. www.postoffice.co.za. Post Office