Date of publication
Aug 31, 2026
Category:
Practice Insight
San ethnoastronomy and cultural memory: reclaiming indigenous cosmologies in the Square Kilometre Array construction area
This practice insight examines how science communication engages with San ethnoastronomical knowledge within the context of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) in South Africa. Drawing on participatory workshops with descendants of San communities in the Northern Cape, it explores how Indigenous astronomical knowledge persists through fragmentation, reinterpretation, and selective continuity rather than as a fixed historical tradition. The findings demonstrate that meaningful engagement is less about recovering “authentic” knowledge than facilitating dialogue between archival records, living community knowledge, and contemporary scientific practice. The practice insight offers a rare practitioner perspective from within a large-scale scientific infrastructure. It introduces a Dialogical Knowledge Renewal Model that positions science communication as a process of reciprocity, shared interpretation, and the return of knowledge to communities. The model provides a transferable framework for engaging Indigenous Knowledge Systems ethically while supporting cultural continuity, epistemic plurality, and public engagement with science.