Pawnee Astronomy

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Saturday December 20, 2025 · 1:06 PM PST

2025/12/20 · 13:06

Welcome to the Street Prophets Coffee Hour cleverly hidden at the intersection of religion, art, science, food, and politics. This is an open thread where we can share our thoughts and comments about the day. The Pawnee Indians, like the tribes in other areas, watched the movements of the moon, the sun, and the stars during the course of the year. This was an important way of marking time and determining when some ceremonies should be held.

Ojibwa

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Thursday December 18, 2025 · 1:06 PM PST

2025/12/18 · 13:06

Welcome to the Street Prophets Coffee Hour cleverly hidden at the intersection of religion, art, science, food, and politics. This is an open thread where we can share our thoughts and comments about the day. Falconry refers to the practice of hunting with trained birds of prey. In the book Dunrobin Castle, Lord Strathnaver writes:

“Falconry was originally developed many centuries ago as a means of hunting fast or difficult prey as food for the table, and is still practiced in for this purpose in many parts of the world.”

In some parts of the world today, trained birds of prey have also been trained to capture small drones which are flying illegally.

We visited Dunrobin Castle as part of a CIE Coach Tour and were able to see a demonstration of falconry. Among the birds which have been trained at Dunrobin Castle are golden eagles, peregrine falcons, eagle owls, and barn owls.

Ojibwa

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Saturday December 13, 2025 · 1:06 PM PST

2025/12/13 · 13:06

Ojibwa

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Tuesday December 02, 2025 · 12:05 PM PST

2025/12/02 · 12:05

Automobiles were first developed in Germany in the late nineteenth century. During the first decade of the twentieth century, automobile manufacturing began moving from hand-made cars to mass production and mass marketing. As with most innovations, the early automobiles relied on what had come before: carriages and wagons which had once been pulled by horses were now powered by engines.

There were a number of concerns and competing ideas at this time about how to power the new vehicles: gasoline engines or steam engines or electric motors. Borrowing from marine technology, many of the early cars were steered with a tiller while some used a steering wheel. There were also different ideas about where the driver should sit: on the right or on the left, or, in some cases, in the rear.

In 1906, fifteen states had speed limits of 20 miles per hour; nine had speed limits of 15 miles per hour; and two had speed limits of less than 10 miles per hour.

Shown below are some 1906 automobiles.

Ojibwa

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Tuesday December 02, 2025 · 12:05 PM PST

2025/12/02 · 12:05

The Polson Flathead Lake Museum in Polson, Montana, has a collection of carriages. A carriage is a horse-drawn passenger vehicle.

With regard to etymology, the word carriage entered into English in the late fourteenth century from the Old North French charriage which means “to carry in a vehicle.” It is from the Late Latin carricare which is from the Latin carrus meaning “two-wheeled wagon.” By the late fourteenth century, carriage had narrowed its meaning to “individual wheeled vehicle” and by the early eighteenth century to “horse-drawn wheeled vehicle for hauling people.”

Ojibwa

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Tuesday December 02, 2025 · 12:05 PM PST

2025/12/02 · 12:05

Battery A Field Artillery Horse Barn was once an officers’ horse barn. The building is one of two 1911 buildings original to Camp Withycomb. The Horse Barn now houses the artillery exhibit for the Oregon Military Museum in Clackamas, Oregon. Shown below are the exhibit’s Japanese artillery.

Ojibwa

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Tuesday December 02, 2025 · 12:05 PM PST

2025/12/02 · 12:05

When the first American explorers and fur traders began to move out onto the Northern Plains following the Corps of Discovery (i.e. Lewis and Clark) in the early nineteenth century, they encountered the tribe which they came to call the Crows hunting in Montana and Wyoming. At this time, the Crows were horse-mounted buffalo hunters with a good understanding of the ecology of the country.

Ojibwa

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Tuesday December 02, 2025 · 12:05 PM PST

2025/12/02 · 12:05

Humans—Homo sapiens—first evolved in Africa and were biologically adapted to life in a warm climate. When humans left Africa and began their migrations north into Europe and Asia, they had to adapt to a colder environment. One of the innovations that made this possible was clothing, more specifically, tailored clothing which was made to fit the human body. Tailored clothing required sewing.

Ojibwa

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Saturday November 29, 2025 · 1:06 PM PST

2025/11/29 · 13:06

Ojibwa

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Saturday November 29, 2025 · 7:15 AM PST

2025/11/29 · 07:15

Swan Island Dahlias in Canby, Oregon, hosts an Annual Dahlia Festival. The Festival features 50 acres of Dahlias. Dahlias were originally native to Mesoamerica where they were domesticated by Indigenous peoples such as the Aztecs and Toltecs. Shown below are a dozen Dahlias.

Ojibwa

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Friday November 28, 2025 · 7:15 AM PST

2025/11/28 · 07:15

The Me 262 was the world’s first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft. The design of what would become the Me 262 began in 1939. It first flew in 1942 and became operational in mid-1944. It was faster and better armed than any Allied aircraft. In 1944, an Me 262 shot down a British Mosquito flying over Munich, making it the first jet airplane to be used in combat.

Ojibwa

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Thursday November 27, 2025 · 1:06 PM PST

2025/11/27 · 13:06

The North Head Lighthouse, located in the Cape Disappointment State Park in Washington, was maintained by lighthouse keepers from 1898 until 1961 when the facility was automated. The original lamp in the lighthouse was an oil lamp with five wicks. This meant that the lighthouse keepers had to carry gallons of oil up the narrow, winding staircase every day to keep the light burning. They also had to trim the wicks and adjust the flame height and ventilation. The lens also required daily polishing and every two months the lens had to be polished with wine to ensure a brightly shining light. Shown below are some photographs of the lighthouse, the trail to the lighthouse, and the area around it.

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Pawnee Astronomy

Falconry

Two Medicine and Running Eagle Falls, Glacier Park

Museums 201: 1906 automobiles (photo diary)

Polson Museum: Carriages (museum exhibit)

Oregon Military Museum: World War II Japanese artillery (museum exhibit)

Indians 201: Crow Indian migrations

Museums 501: Sewing machines (photo diary)

Colville Indian cradleboards

Dahlias (photo diary 8)

Museums 201: The Me 262 Swallow, the first operational jet fighter (photo diary)

The North Head lighthouse