This essay examines the Aboriginal creation story 'Meamei the Seven Sisters' by K. Langloh Parker, which explains the origin of the Pleiades constellation through indigenous Australian mythology. The narrative follows Wurrunnah's journey and his interaction with seven sisters who ultimately become stars in the sky. The story demonstrates the integration of cultural astronomy in Aboriginal traditions, serving both as entertainment and as a practical element in traditional calendars and seasonal observations.
Meamei the Seven Sisters is an indigenous story written by K. Langloh Parker about Wurrunnah and Meamei, the seven sisters. It begins when Wurrunnah came back home from a long day of hunting and couldn’t find food. Due to hunger and in a fit of rage, Wurrunnah decided to leave his home and go to another country. He later found Meamei who allowed him to sleep at their camp. He later kidnapped two of these seven sisters and forced them to be his wives. After he sent the two sisters to collect wood for a fire, they were whisked into the sky as the trees grew higher and higher while they were collecting bark from them. The two Meamei were later joined by the remaining five sisters and became part of the stars. The purpose of this story was to demonstrate the normal experiences of tribespeople in many parts of Australia in terms of hunger and migration. The Pleiades, which are evident in the sky and form a critical part of Aboriginal calendars and astronomy, are the seven Meamei sisters.
The seven Meamei sisters is a story that is linked to history and geography in relation to Greek mythology and astronomy. From a historical perspective, mythological stories usually entail seven young girls chased by a man linked to the constellation Orion (Norris & Norris, 2021). The seven young girls or seven sisters refers to an open stellar group of young stars that were created between 115 and 125 million years ago. The Pleiades remains an important aspect in many cultures with different stories regarding their origin. Generally, Pleiades are seven young girls or sisters whose first written record was by the Chinese in 2357 BC. In Meamei the Seven Sisters, the origin of Pleiades emerged when Wurrunnah sent two sisters to collect firewood and were whisked to the sky before being joined by the other five sisters. From a geography perspective, the Pleiades represent a critical aspect of astronomy as they are usually referred to as seven stars. They are an important part of Aboriginal astronomy and calendars to date. As an important element of Aboriginal astronomy, Pleiades are usually linked to sacred ceremonies and stories of women. In Aboriginal calendars, their heliacal rising of the Pleiades signifies the start of winter.
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