Linking the Pleiades to a reawakened Black Duck Songline in Southeastern Australia

Abstract

This article presents an analysis of an Aboriginal songline in South-eastern Australia that has not been previously recorded. As part of a project examining the astronomy and songline connections of the Saltwater Aboriginal peoples of the New South Wales coast, the Black Duck Songline was identified that may have links to the Pleiades star cluster. The Pleiades, known by many peoples as the Seven Sisters, is one of the most important elements of Aboriginal cosmologies across Australia, and features in songlines and oral traditions, as well as being a resource calendar identifier. Aboriginal songlines are a unique development of Aboriginal culture that celebrate the travels of the Creator Ancestors as they shaped the landscape. The identification of the Black Duck Songline and its possible connection to the Pleiades is an example of the potential reawakening of other long-distance songlines in Australia and their connection to the cosmology of their communities.