The astronomy of the Kamilaroi and Euahlayi peoples and their neighbours

The Kamilaroi and Euahlayi people and their neighbours, the Ngemba and Murrawarri, are a large Australian Aboriginal cultural grouping located in the north central and northwest of New South Wales. They have a rich history in the literature on culture and language, but have been neglected when the cultural astronomy of Australian indigenous groups has been reported. This study examined the literature for detailed knowledge of the sky, and collected stories from Aboriginal people of these language groups who practise their culture. Combined, this knowledge was used to create a database to add to the larger body of knowledge on cultural astronomy in Australia. Specific detailed knowledge on the Emu in the Sky, and the use of star maps to teach travel to ceremony, was analysed and reported, along with the larger collection of knowledge, in journal articles that form the basis of this thesis by publication. The hypotheses that this cultural grouping has a rich cultural astronomy, and some of this knowledge was ethnoscientific in nature, were answered in the affirmative through an analysis of the collected data and stories. The results of this study point to a number of new areas of potential research in Aboriginal cultural astronomy.