Reconstructing Salish knowledge of the night sky

Published
Mar 05 2026
By Becca Beutel
Drawing of an Indigenous asterism depicting the baking of camas overlaid on the night sky.
The Camas baking pit is an Indigenous asterism that can be viewed in the Pacific Northwest in the winter months. Camas is a traditional food of the coast Salish people, harvested from the skunk cabbage. (source: Radio Canada)

Dr. Shandin Pete, a Salish and Diné hydrogeologist and Assistant Professor of Teaching in EOAS, studies how Indigenous knowledge systems describe the natural world. Pete has been combining geoscience, ethnography, and community collaboration to reconstruct traditional Salish knowledge that was thought lost to colonization and forced assimilation. 

Salish communities and some other indigenous nations view celestial patterns as reflections of another world. The stories these patterns tell are viewed from a bird's eye view, as if the onlooker is watching the happenings of this other world from above, unlike Greek or Roman constellations which are viewed from the side like they’re being displayed in a book. One such pattern represents a gliding canoe using many of the stars within what many recognize as Orion.  

Pete’s work brings together archival research, oral traditions, and collaboration with Indigenous knowledge holders to piece together these star traditions. These narratives encode lessons about behaviour, values, community relationships, and the cycles of the natural world while also reflecting careful observation of celestial motion.  

By documenting and reconstructing indigenous astronomy, Pete aims to help revitalize knowledge that once guided communities for generations. The research also illustrates how Indigenous knowledge systems hold long records of environmental observation and offer perspectives that complement Western scientific approaches.  

Pete’s work highlights the value of Indigenous science traditions and contributes to broader efforts to recognize diverse ways of understanding the Earth and the sky. 

 

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