"We are Stardust - Identity and Light”

A Native Skywatchers Collaborative Research Project

This project lives at the intersection of Science-Art-Culture - Team members include: Milagros Varguez, Maya; Hilario Chi Canul, Maya Indigenous knowledge holder; Professor Guillermo Talavera, professor of Arts Management and Development in collaboration with Annette S. Lee.

As described by Mi’kmaw elders: Etuaptmumk or Two-Eyed Seeing is learning to see from one eye with the strengths of Indigenous knowledges and ways of knowing, and from the other eye with the strengths of Western knowledges and ways of knowing, and to use both these eyes for the benefit of all. (Bartlett, Marshall and Marshall 2012, 336)

Students (15) at the Intercultural Mayan University of Quintana Roo worked with astronomer Milagros Varguez, Hilario Chi Canul, Jesus Galindo, Jose Franco, Francisco Hernandez, Gabriel Berrios, Nahum, and Josefina Moyron, They learned about the Mayan Cosmovision. "We are stardust" was carried out in the Mayan zone of Mexico, in the state of Quintana Roo. This represented an opportunity to bring this project to an area with few academic offerings and without a course of this type. It was carried out within the indigenous community with the narratives, stories and vision of the Mayan culture. The students collaborated with the Intercultural Mayan University of Quintana Roo, an institution that promotes the study, development and strengthening of the Mayan language and culture through an intercultural educational model.

"Maya - We are Stardust" cohort

"Maya - We are Stardust" Maya Cosmology

Intercultural Mayan University of Quintana Roo, Maya Intercultural University of Quintana Roo — university. It is located in Chetumal, Mexico. Maya Intercultural University of Quintana Roo conducts scientific activity in several areas. The campus of the educational institution is located in Chetumal. "The Intercultural Maya University of Quintana Roo is an Institution of high academic level, with international presence, with certification of all its administrative and management processes, with 100% of the educational programs accredited, with a strong connection with its environment and with evidence clear that the region has been positively transformed as a result of the work of the University's graduates."   

"Venus" Mayan Star Knowledge

"Maya - We are Stardust" cohort