Big Dipper

    Article

    A group of five stars that create the major constellation also known as Ursa Major. These stars appear to rotate around the North Star, also known as Polaris. For the Navajo, the Big Dipper and the North Star are a part of the same constellation known as the Whirling Male, as a reference to the fact that the Big Dipper revolves around the North Star.

    Photo Credit

     
    "Diagram showing the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) and the North Star (Polaris)" by Jim Thomas is licensed under CC BY-SA.

    Published Works
    Manuscript Occurrences
    References

     
    Encyclopædia Britannica Online
         N.d.   Ursa Major.
             http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/620003/Ursa-Major, accessed January 13,
             2015.

    Griffin-Pierce, Trudy, and N. Scott Momaday
         1995   Earth Is My Mother, Sky Is My Father: Space, Time, and Astronomy in Navajo
             Sandpainting. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico.

    Lynch, Patricia Ann
         2004   The Big Dipper in American Indian mythology. Native American Mythology,
             Mythology A to Z. New York: Facts On File, Inc.