MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov
Contact: Jane Platt
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMarch 12, 1999
NASA AND LAKOTA SIOUX JOIN TOGETHER TO REACH FOR THE STARS
In a unique marriage of high-tech science and traditional
Native American teachings, NASA science educators and the Lakota
Nation will welcome the arrival of spring and exchange knowledge
of the stars in the Black Hills of South Dakota on March 19-21.
During the traditional Lakota Spring Gathering of more than
1,000 members of the Lakota Nation, Lakota elders will share
their traditional star teachings, and JPL educators will provide
telescopes and computers as astronomy aids.
"We hope to excite Lakota youth about NASA space science and
see what we can learn from this cultural interchange," said JPL
science educator Richard Shope. "We are exploring the
connections between recent space findings and traditional Lakota
star knowledge."
"My people once hunted for buffalo - now we hunt for
knowledge," said Chief Joseph Chasing Horse, spiritual leader for
the event. For the Lakota people, the Spring Gathering marks the
time when the Sun travels with the traditional Dried Red Willow
constellation. Throughout Lakota history, it was a time of
migration for hunters who followed the movements of buffalo
herds.
The gathering will include students from eight rural tribal
schools, along with their family and friends. On Saturday, March
20, JPL science educators will host a star-watching session, and
students will participate in hands-on, interactive astronomy
lessons. On the first day of spring -- Sunday, March 21, known
as the vernal equinox -- the Lakota will host a ceremonial hike,
and Lakota elders will share their traditional star knowledge
through talking circles, singing and dancing.
"We have come to your classroom, and we now invite you to
come into our classroom," said Chasing Horse. In a program
sponsored by NASA's Native American Initiative, he is working
with JPL representatives to help develop education materials that
join traditional Lakota teachings with modern science. Chasing
Horse, a direct descendant of the spiritual leader Crazy Horse,
serves as ambassador to the United Nations for the Lakota Sioux
Nations.
At the Black Hills gathering, JPL will present to the Lakota
people several large prints of an image of the Black Hills as
taken from the Space Shuttle.
JPL is participating in the event through a program called
"From the Outer Planets to the Inner City" designed to bring
space science to urban and rural classrooms. JPL staff members
attending the Black Hills gathering include representatives of
the Laboratory's Outer Planets/Solar Probe project, the Cassini
mission to Saturn and the Telescopes In Education program.
A larger, public gathering to mark the arrival of summer
will be held from June 21 to 25 in the Black Hills.
JPL manages the Outer Planets/Solar Probe project and the
Cassini program for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington,
DC. JPL is a division of California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, CA.
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3-12-99 JP
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