Chapter 6 Cosmogenic Histories: Aboriginal Observations on Catastrophe and Climate
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Abstract
Aboriginal observations of catastrophe and climate can be dated back to almost 10,000 years ago in Australia. Even during the early modern era, sightings of constellations, comets, and meteors were among some of the astronomical phenomena documented in the oral stories of Aboriginal peoples located in New South Wales, Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, and Kimberley, Western Australia. Firsthand observations of celestial bodies coincided with rising sea levels and drought, occasionally forecasting imminent harm for local communities, or retribution upon white colonists and the destruction of built settlements. Conceived at a cosmic level, these climatic events were mapped and woven into the living lore of Aboriginal peoples like the Ngarinyin, Wardaman, Gunbalanya, Arrernte, Yolngu, and Walpiri. Such oral stories and visual representations of these phenomena correlated to the locations of sacred sites and ceremonies that shaped how events like solar eclipses were understood. Architecture, in this case, is not defined by physical buildings but instead by Country’s engagement with planetary events, which defined an early approach to environmentalism.