Friday, March 18, 2011 7 – 11 PM
Public Star Night at the Little Thompson Observatory, 850 Spartan Ave at Berthoud High School (park east of the high school; directions are posted on our website, www.starkids.org).
Our guest speaker is Jim Tolstrup, and the title of his talk will be “Lakota Star Knowledge”.
Members of the Lakota tribe observed the stars while remaining in one geographical area over a period of thousands of years. In the “Winter Circle” they saw a representation of their seasonal migration through the Black Hills in Western South Dakota. The stars also represented the spiritual life of the people. The shape of the earth was thought to resemble the constellations above. Much of this mirroring takes place inside the red clay valley which encircles the Black Hills of South Dakota. The Lakota stellar theology can be summarized by the quote: “What is on the earth is in the stars, and what is in the stars is on the earth.”
Thus to the Lakota, the stars represented places on Earth, the appropriate timing for migration, hunting, gathering and ceremonies, as well as ethical and moral lessons.
Jim Tolstrup is the President of Cankatola Ti Ospaye, a non-profit that supports native elders. At the urging of Lakota Elders, Jim reaches out to his own people to promote justice for Native Americans and harmony with the natural world. As the Executive Director of the High Plains Environmental Center in Loveland, Colorado, Jim works with developers to “restore nature where we live, work and play.”
The observatory doors will open at 7:00pm and the talk will start at 7:30pm.
Weather permitting after the presentation, visitors will be invited to look through our large telescope at various celestial objects.
Public star nights are held the third Friday of each month (except July, when we are closed for annual maintenance). No reservations are necessary for these nights. Just come and join us for the talk and some observing afterwards.
If you have any questions, please call the observatory information line at 970-613-7793 or check the LTO web site at: www.starkids.org
Sincerely,
Meinte Veldhuis, President, Little Thompson Science Foundation
