began this conversation. He invited all those working on these issues to bring our best intentions to this journey, and to seek ways to heal and learn from the past so we can do better and be better as beloved communities. He ended by seeking permission to continue in a good way so that our desire to progress does not come at the cost of elders or with ideals of empire, but so we can proceed in ways that honor our interconnectedness.
4.1. Key Themes
Some key themes that emerged from the morning talks and the afternoon Town Hall and breakout room on Indigeous and international perspectives are described below.
Indigenous peoples are part of sovereign nations — they are not special interest groups. Satellite constellations that are visible by the unaided eye on Earth will impact Indigenous peoples. The SATCON1 report noted in passing that the satellites might affect wayfinding practiced by different Indigenous peoples. It is commendable that the SATCON2 working groups included greater discussion about how Indigenous peoples might be harmed by or benefit from these satellites, including the voices of some Indigenous peoples. However, Indigenous peoples were included in the discussion as a special interest group along with amateur astronomers, astrophotographers, and others. This is inappropriate because Indigenous peoples in Canada and the United States are groups of sovereign nations with rights highlighted by treaties and the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Consulting and including Indigenous peoples in a working group is a positive step from the SATCON1 report, but more work is needed for that discussion to be nation-to-nation and not colonizer-to-Indigenous peoples.
Altered relationship with the cosmos. Indigenous workshop speakers shared that “satellites literally interrupt our relationship with the stars and ceremonial ways of connecting with them”, “Stars are our ancestors and erasing them is erasing our tellings and scientific-cultural traditions”, and “Land, sky and oceans are relationships, a verb”. Speakers emphasized the need for a relational ethical approach to space built on consensus and consultation. There is also a profound shift in our view of the stars as a fixed sphere, as we introduce more human-made moving objects into this realm.
A new form of colonization. The perspectives of Indigenous peoples with respect to outer space and the expected rapid growth of satellite constellations are important and necessary. Indigenous peoples from around the globe have observed the night sky since time immemorial and have a sophisticated and complex relationship with the visible night sky. As sovereign peoples and cultures, the rapid growth of these satellite constellations can have a significant and negative impact on this relationship. Many Indigenous stories are written in the stars. Light pollution has acted to erase Indigenous stories and identities — again — disconnecting these peoples from the night sky, mirroring the painful history of colonization in which Indigenous peoples lost their land and water. Speakers viewed light pollution as erasing their stories and satellites as rewriting them. They shared successful collectives to honor and preserve ancestral knowledge about Indigenous star stories and sky traditions, including Pai Pai star stories[1] from the bilingual 68 Voices project[2] based in Mexico, and the highly successful nonprofit Native
