Pongaponga

Authors: Susanne M Hoffmann, Clive Ruggles, Youla Azkarrula

---

On the island of Pukapuka, one of the Northern Cook Islands in the South Pacific, the stars  ε1 (4) Lyr and ε2 (5) Lyr,  two faint stars that can just be separated with the naked eye in good conditions, are known as Na ponga-ponga-iyu-o-te-kiole, “the nostrils of the rat”. The name Ponga-Ponga (“nostrils”) is a suggested shortening of this.

Concordance, Etymology, History

Information on star knowledge on Pukapuka was obtained by ethnographers Ernest and Pearl Beaglehole during 1934 and 1935 (Beaglehole and Beaglehole 1938: 347–353) “from a number of informants” (ibid.: 348). Their report contains a star chart drawn by Robert Dean Frisbie, an American author who lived among the natives and “assisted in the identification of the star names” (ibid.: fig. 55, reproduced below).

Asterism #26 in the chart is identified as “Na Pongaponga-iyu-o-te-kiole (4ε and 5 Lyrae)”. [ADD OTHER NAME VARIANTS AND REFS]

[TBA] and is separate from #17, identified as "Te Yiku-o-te-kiole (Ursa Major, second identification)" .

Mythology

mnemonic tales and cultural significance

References

• References (general)