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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this library names people who have passed away.

Wardaman

Rainbow Serpent as Milky Way

A Wardaman rock painting of Sky Boss and Rainbow Serpent is published with an astronomical reading: serpent as Milky Way.

Norris is explicit: a researcher could not deduce the sky link from the painting alone. The reading needs Harney’s insight. That is a warning against decorative “Aboriginal space art”.

Songlines on Earth became still as stars when creation beings split up. The sky is a mnemonic of Country.

Mercury cites that published link. The /sky band is a dust river, not a traced rock-art overlay.

Mercury 91 is not affiliated with any Aboriginal Land Council, Torres Strait Islander organisation, museum, or Stellarium. This library cites published ethnoastronomy. It is not a partnership and not a single pan-Aboriginal sky.

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