Planetarium Newsletter - April 2024
Cosmic Curiosities
“These late eclipses in the sun and moon portend no good to
“These late eclipses in the sun and moon portend no good to
“The most exciting phrase in science is not ‘Eureka!’ but ‘That’s funny…’”
~ Isaac Asimov, American Scientist & Author

Originally, the Native people who made up the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe came from Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. During the 1770s, Stockbridge -- a mixed Native and White Christian community -- was formed in western Massachusetts, largely drawing on members of the Mahikan or Mohican tribe which occupied eastern New York, western Massachusetts, and parts of western Connecticut.
The beings that make up Kwakiutl mythology are remarkably diverse. Accounts of their interactions with humans and each other are passed along through stories that not only form the basis of traditional Kwakiutl spiritual and ceremonial life and lore, but also connect Kwakiutl families to their ancestral pasts. Many contemporary Kwakiutl identify themselves as Christians but incorporate traditional mythology into their faith, freely blending elements of Christian and indigenous religion.
The Oneida Tribe are members of the League of the Iroquois, a confederacy of the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk based on mutual non-aggression. At a later date, the Tuscarora joined the Confederacy. The Oneida’s traditional territory is in upstate New York. The Oneida refer to themselves as Oneyoteaka, "People of the Standing Stone." According to Oneida traditions, there was always a large, red boulder near the main Oneida village.