Do you see the shells lined up like a summoning circle? Before GPS or even compasses were around, navigators in Micronesia would use this circle of 32 different sized shells as a way to track the placement and movement of the stars in the sky which would help them to guide their ships across the open seas.
The study of the stars builds with each piece of knowledge: First, you learn about the position of the major constellations, and then you learn to map those constellations to certain parts of the ship. For example, say you’re on the island of Guam heading to Puluwat in Micronesia, you’ll want the head of your ship to be facing towards “Scorpio Antares”. But what if it’s cloudy and you can’t see Scorpio Antares? If you know the surrounding constellations you can reference those, too. The more constellations you can memorize and associate with the direction of your ship, the better you’ll be able to navigate out at sea.
As you learn more about the constellations, you’ll start to realize that this skill can be used for other things as well. For example, try holding your hand in a fist parallel to the ground, and you’ll see that the head of your thumb is at an angle of about 10 degrees. By stacking your fists, you can measure the angle of the stars in the sky against the fists’ shadow, allowing you to tell the time of day. Stars also tell us when it’s time to plant or harvest depending on whether you can see the summer or winter constellations. Pacific islanders treasured the stars in the sky because they were so much more than that-- stars can be a GPS, compass, clock, and calendar all rolled up in one.
