Long ago when animals chose to speak with us, there was a warrior who had a prayer for his people that he wanted to deliver to the Great Spirit. This warrior climbed a mountain as high as he could go, and he came across Yona, the Bear. Yona said, “Two-legged, what are you doing here? You don’t belong here!” The warrior said, “I want to deliver this prayer to the Great Spirit.” Yona was very taken aback by this story and says, “I will take that prayer for you.” He takes the prayer and climbs as high up the mountain. When he reached the top there were no more trees except for one, and he saw Awohali the Eagle nested up at the top of it. Awohali looked down and said, “Yona, what are you doing here? You don’t belong here.” Yona told Awohali about the prayer, and equally touched, offers take the prayer. Awohali in Cherokee means “He who flies the highest,” and Awohali flew as high as he could, higher than he ever had before, all the way to the Sun – our star Nokwisi. The Sun looks at the eagle and says, “Awohali, what are you doing here? You don’t belong here.” Awohali tells the Sun about the prayer who says, “I speak with the Great Spirit, give me the prayer and I will deliver it. But first, give me one of your tail feathers.” Awohali reaches back and plucks one and the Sun kisses it. This is why the golden eagle tail feather has a black mark on the tip. The Sun tells Awohali, “Give this feather to the people so they will know they have a direct connection to the Great Spirit.” For this reason the eagle feather is coveted by most native people.
Meet the Team
Manuel Lucero – Director, Museum of Indigenous People; Representative of the Cherokee Nation
Joshua Ballze – Trustee, Museum of Indigenous People; Jurassic Paleoart Expo; representative of the Hia-Ced O’odham Nation
Dr. Pragati Pradhan – Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University; Association for Women in Science
Eric Edelman – Director, Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University; AAS Astronomy Ambassador, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee of the International Planetarium Society
Edward Tucker – Realtor, Licensed Drone Pilot; Videographer
Adam M. England, E.A, “The Backyard Astronomer” – Founding secretary, NAZ Astro; Former Vice-President, Prescott Astronomy Club; Astronomical League member
Rebecca Spejcher – Undergraduate Student of Astronomy, ERAU; Society of Physics Students
Colin Tucker -Student, Bradshaw Mountain High School
Wyatt Lucero – Student, Northpoint Expeditionary Learning Academy
Allyson Barney – Student, Liberty Traditional School
Jeremiah Christy – Student, Liberty Traditional School
Aubrey Tucker – Elementary School Student
The Project
Team member Adam England published articles for the November and December print editions of the 5enses Magazine column “The Backyard Astronomer” discussing exoplanets, indigenous astronomy, and promoting a public event at the Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium. The article was also made available online through various websites and platforms, and as an audio podcast, with guest Manuel Lucero on the December podcast.
Manuel Lucero and Joshua Ballze were also hosted on the Backyard Astronomer Podcast to discuss the history of their tribes, their educational work as Director/Trustee (respectively) of the Museum of Indigenous People, and the connection with indigenous astronomy. The interview was shared in audio/video format across platforms including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Reddit.
A free public star party was hosted by the Prescott Astronomy Club/NAZ Astro with the Prescott Valley Public Library on 10/21/2022 with volunteer telescopes and to promote the upcoming event at the planetarium, with attendance over 200.
A live public event with cumulative total attendance of 324 guests was held the weekend of 11/05/2022 at the Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium at Embry Riddle University, Prescott, Arizona campus. 5 planetarium shows presented by Eric Edelman, Planetarium Director, with the theme of “exoplanets” culminated in an educational panel with Dr. Pragati Pradhan, Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy, and Rebecca Spejcher, Undergraduate Student of Astronomy, ERAU, introducing the NameExoWorlds2022 candidate system GJ436/GJ436b, with Manuel Lucero, representative from the Cherokee Nation, describing the proposed naming theme. Edward Tucker served as videographer for the duration of the project.
Student presentations are taking place throughout the months of December 2022/January 2023 at Liberty Traditional School with Jeremiah Christy and Allyson Barney, Northpoint Expeditionary Academy with Wyatt Lucero, and Bradshaw Mountain High School with Colin Tucker.
The name of the exoplanet and star were presented by a representative of the Cherokee Nation (Manuel Lucero). The names are from a Cherokee story of a warrior who goes on a journey to the Great Spirit and includes Yona the Bear, Awohali the Eagle, and Nokwisi the Star.
The Backyard Astronomer 