A star and its exoplanet have been renamed in Cree as part of a naming contest. (ID 125461858 © Vitalij Kopa | Dreamstime.com)

By Jeff D'Andrea

Cree In Space

Cree names given to star and exoplanet

Mar 18, 2020 | 2:25 PM

The Cree language has been linked to astrology for thousands of years, using the sun, the stars and the moon as navigational guides. But now, Cree names for a star and its exoplanet will be used in every language.

Nikâwiy and Awasis will be the new names for star HD136418 and its exoplanet HD136418b as part of the NameExoWorlds contest. The naming contest was put together by the International Astronomical Union, and gave countries across the world an opportunity to name a star and its exoplanet that orbits it. Nikâwiy and Awasis was Canada’s winning entry.

“I think it’s a great way to include indigenous people’s languages into naming the stars,” said Victor Thunderchild, Cree language teacher at Carlton Comprehensive High School. “It’s phenomenal because it’s something we use as guidance for thousands of years.”

Nikâwiy (pronounced ni-gah-wee) means “my mother” in English. Awasis (ah-wah-sis) translates to “child” and links very well with its mother star.

“We often have a name for our stars that we have out there, and we’ve used a number of things that are very close to us. ‘Our mother’ and ‘our child’ is absolutely great,” Thunderchild said.

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Thunderchild said having the names of a star and its orbiting planet officially named in Cree forever helps both in sustaining the Cree language and also raising publicity.

“It helps a lot. It not only helps preserve our language but also includes our language to other groups of people as well and all walks of life,” Thunderchild said. “If anybody takes a look at that, they go ‘okay then, what does that mean?’ They’ll ask ‘what language is that?’ And then they’ll understand that it comes from the Cree language. It just gives us more exposure.”

With files from Michael Joel-Hansen.

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW