Summer evenings are the best time to observe the galactic stars according to these instructions. During these evenings, the observer can plainly see the Land of the Dead in the sky above the islands. Souls traveling on the Milky Way near the Land of the Dead were near the cardinal direction south at this time of viewing. I suspected that the Luhui, the jumping fox dancers, played a key role in the movements of these souls in the heavens...." (page 9)
"The lyrics to an important Chumash spiritual about the Milky Way, advise the audience to view the celestial path when it is in a specific bearing. "South, sight to north, then south, then sight to north."
"These sighting instructions are taken from Harrington's field notes, recording lyrics from a Chumash Milky Way song (Kitsepawit, Crystals, 114). On the same page, Kitsepawit comments further on the symbolic importance of the times of night when the Milky Way rotated into a south-north alignment. "The south was the chief point of the ancient Indians, for it was infinite and clear, and it extended to the north."
In these comments, Kitsepawit appears to be referring to the division of the universe as manifested by the Milky Way when it rotates into a north-south alignment. The south sky is 'clear' because it has no observable limits. It appears to be infinite to the observer, because it has no pole star to define any visible end point.
Perhaps Chumash astronomical lore about the southern sky was similar to that of the Navajo, who blame the disorder of the southern stars on the Sky Coyote? There is no southern pole star in Navajo lore and the stars thus appear to be disorderly [compared to the northern stars which rotate around Polaris]. Williamson identifies the Navajo's Coyote star with Sirius, confirming that it was Coyote who introduced disorder into the heavens (Skywatchers, 162).
In contrast, the Navajo celebrate the orderliness of the northern sky and attribute its virtuous circular motion to the influence of the Black god. This nomenclature may refer to the ruler of the night sky [black sky, darkness], or perhaps to the celestial axis, hundreds of eons ago when the northern sky rotated around a 'black' (visually empty0 spot in the heavens. Polaris rotated into this vortex at a later date.
Hudson and Underhay interpret the Chumash ritual name for the Milky Way, Suyapo'osh (meaning journey journey of the pine nut gatherers) as referring to its role as a celestial pathway leading north to Iwihinmu (Pine) Mountain. Iwihinmu was the center of the earth and thus located in a straight line halfway between the north and south cardinal directions."[Footnote 12, page 32].
Fox "The female governor of the Chumash islanders used the title Fox. This small member of the dog family, typically of reddish-brown fur, is known as crafty and sometimes deceitful. Its bushy tail is used as a field identification, but its red color may be more significant to folk lore, being associated perhaps with blood and thus both death and birth.... No specific ethnological reference to a Chumash Fox star has survived, but Chumash Fox lore is rich in possible celestial associations. Because the written record is fragmentary, it is open to conflicting interpretations. See Antares for discussion of a red star which may be the Fox star of the summer solstice" [from the glossary, page 38].
Iluhi "The Chumash islanders' title for their female Fox officials. Maria Leqte, the last governor of the islanders used the title Iluhi." [from the glossary, page 38].
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