Lokono (Asterism Names)

Authors: Youla Azkarrula, Susanne M Hoffmann

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Names of the Arawak groups in South America, including the Lokono in the northeast, close to the coast (CC BY Herve Gallet).

The Lokono culture is a Pre-Christian pagan culture in the northeast of the South American continent. The Lokono, also known as Arawak, are an indigenous people of the Guianas, whose territory stretches along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, from northwestern Guyana, through Suriname, to northwestern French Guiana. Not many sources on astronomical information are preserved from the Pre-Christian era. However, as one of the first indigenous groups that was encountered by the Europeans at the time of conquest, the Lokono have been in contact with non-indigenous populations for over 500 years. This contact has intensified in the last century, leading to a substantial loss of the Lokono language, traditional material and immaterial culture, changes in subsistence practices, and in particular to the disappearance of medicine-men—the traditional carriers of spiritual knowledge, most likely including ethnoastronomical knowledge. As a consequence, the modern knowledge about celestial bodies appears to be but a fraction of what the Lokono knew about stars in the past. Several constellations mentioned in older sources are forgotten or are only known from their names, while the combinations of stars they represent and the oral traditions explaining their origin and significance have been forgotten.

From contemporary and historical accounts, it appears that astronomical knowledge was not restricted to particular members of the Lokono society. However, it was the medicine-men in particular—the spiritual leaders of the Lokono known as semethi—who were required to master the various aspects of star knowledge and who might have been responsible for passing the oral traditions associated with them from one generation to another. From Rodrigo de Navarette, who around 1550 wrote one of the first accounts of the Lokono, we learn, for instance, that:

“old and wise men whom they call Cemetu assemble in the houses designed for their meetings and […] recount the traditions and exploits of their ancestors and great men, and also narrate what those ancestors heard from their forefathers; so that in this manner they remember the most ancient events of their country and people. And, in like manner they recount or preach about events relating to the heavens, the sun, moon, and stars.”[#1]

Navarette's cemetu, the medicine-men known in modern Lokono as semethi, have largely given up their practices today, which may be the reason why the transmission of astronomical knowledge has been interrupted. Many Lokono constellations appear to have been forgotten today. Our sources are therefore often limited to historical accounts written by early explorers and ethnographers of the Guianas, one of the oldest examples of which is illustrated below.

List of Lokono stars by Theodor Schulz, circa 1803

, but this living culture is currently being studied by ethnographers (...).

Solar System Names

Lokono	English	Commentary
Hadali	Sun
Kathi	Moon
	Mercury
Warkohoma	Venus
	Mars
Wiwa kalemero	Jupiter	shining star
	Saturn

Here is an overview on Lokono asterism names

Lokono	Etymological Meaning, when possible	Commentary
Alêti	Torch	β Centauri
Anorhâkoya	Spirit of the cocoi heron	Ursa Major
Arakabosakoya	Spirit of the gun	unknown
Awarhakoya	Spirit of the awara palm	Coma Berenices
Hadali		Sun
Hadorhikoya	Spirit of the red acouchi	unknown
Hawkoya	Spirit of the pale-throated sloth	unknown
Hikarowanakoya	Spirit of the little cuckoo	unknown
Hikorhikoya	Spirit of the yellow-footed tortoise	unknown
Hithikoya	Spirit of the black curassow	Crux
Hokorherokoya	Spirit of the red-rumped agouti	unknown
Honolikoya	Spirit of the rufescent tiger heron	unknown
Howakoya	Spirit of the white-faced saki	unknown
Ifakoya	Spirit of the Muscovy duck	Corona Australis
Imenarikoya	Spirit of the scorpion	unknown
Kabadarokoya	Spirit of the jaguar	unknown
Kama tâla	Jaw of the tapir	Hyades
Kamodokoya	Spirit of the green anaconda	unclear
Kasipenikoya	Spirit of a tortoise	unknown
Kasorhowakoya	Spirit of the four-eyed fish	λ Sco and υ Sco
Katarokoya	Spirit of the green sea turtle	Hercules
Kathi		Moon
Kibiwarhakoya	Spirit of the capibara	unknown
Korherokoya	Spirit of the parrot	unknown
Korhirhwathekoya	Spirit of the ocelot	unknown
Kwakoya	Spirit of the blue crab	Orion
Mabukuli	Man without a thigh	Orion's belt
Mali		Sirius
Maraka	Medicine-men’s rattle	unknown
Marodikoya	Spirit of the marail guan	unknown
Shimarhabokoya	Spirit of the bow and arrow	unknown
Sûtukoya	Spirit of the red-handed tamarin	unknown
Warhemedokoya	Spirit of the two-toed sloth	unknown
Warhokoma		Venus
Waya nukuthi bunaha	Path of the carriers of clay	Milky Way
Wiwa kalemero	Shining star	Jupiter
Yarheyarherokoya	Spirit of the lilac-tailed parrot	unknown
Yokhârhin	Hunter	α Centauri
Yôkoro wiwa	Scores of stars	Pleiades
Yorhada	Grill	Pegasus
Yôwanakoya	Spirit of the green iguana	unknown