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Emu in the Sky, Wajarri Country, Western Australia
from Contact 17
This stunning photograph was taken from Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory on Wajarri Country, last September by renowned photographer Max Alexander. It forms part of his highly acclaimed exhibition Our Fragile Space. Supported by the SKAO, Alexander travelled to South Africa and Australia last year to meet the San and Wajarri communities respectively as part of an effort to record Indigenous Peoples’ perspectives of the night sky around the world.
The Emu (Yalibirri) in the Sky is an important nighttime feature for the Wajarri Yamaji of Western Australia. Its position informs Wajarri People when it’s time to hunt for emu eggs, when the Emu in the Sky faces down it’s time to hunt. So-called “dark constellations” like the Emu are known to several Indigenous communities around the world. They use the contours of dust visible in the Milky Way from dark locations, rather than connecting stars.
