Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, 17(2), 171–179 (2014). Page 171 THE EMU SKY KNOWLEDGE OF THE KAMILAROI AND EUAHLAYI PEOPLES Robert S. Fuller Warawara - Department of Indigenous Studies, Macquarie University, NSW, 2109, Australia, and Macquarie University Research Centre for Astronomy, Astrophysics and Astrophotonics, Macquarie University, NSW, 2109, Australia. Email: robert.fuller1@students.mq.edu.au Michael G. Anderson Euahlayi Law Man, PO Box 55, Goodooga, NSW, 2838, Australia. Email: ghillar29@gmail.com Ray P. Norris Warawara - Department of Indigenous Studies, Macquarie University, NSW, 2109, Australia, and CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, PO Box 76, Epping, NSW, 1710, Australia. Email: raypnorris@gmail.com Michelle Trudgett Warawara - Department of Indigenous Studies, Macquarie University, NSW, 2109, Australia Email: michelle.trudgett@mq.edu.au Abstract: This paper presents a detailed study of the knowledge of the Kamilaroi and Euahlayi peoples about the „Emu in the Sky‟. This study was done with ethnographic data that was not previously reported in detail. We surveyed the literature to find that there are widespread reports of an „Emu in the Sky‟ across Aboriginal Australian language groups, but little detailed knowledge available in the literature. This paper reports and describes a comprehensive Kamilaroi and Euahlayi knowledge of the Emu in the Sky and its cultural context. Notice to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Readers: This paper contains the names of people who have passed away. Keywords: Australian ethnoastronomy, Kamilaroi people, Euahlayi people, Emu in the Sky 1 INTRODUCTION Cultural astronomy is the interdisciplinary study of how various cultures have understood and us- ed astronomical phenomena, and the mechan- isms by which this understanding is generated (Iwaniszewski, 2009; Sinclair, 2006). It is gener- ally divided into archaeoastronomy (past cul- tures) and ethnoastronomy (contemporary cul- tures). Because cultural astronomy is a social science informed by the physical sciences (Rug- gles, 2011), the field has been dubbed the “an- thropology of astronomy” (Platt, 1λλ1μ S76). Fuller et al. (2014: 3 –4) reviewed the history of cultural astronomy in an Aboriginal Australian context. They report that while there is a rich knowledge of Aboriginal astronomy, the literat- ure on Kamilaroi and Euahlayi astronomy, bas- ed on ethnography from the nineteenth century, was often very limited in detail and contained many contradictions between the stories report- ed. For that reason, this project (involving a collaboration between Robert Fuller, Ray Norris, and Michelle Trudgett) included an ethnographic phase to collect knowledge of the sky from current Kamilaroi, Euahlayi and neighbouring communities. The ethnography comprised mul- tiple interviews and recordings of stories during 2013 from eight participants with mostly mixed heritage from the Kamilaroi, Euahlayi, Ngemba and Murrawarri communities. These partici- pants are mentioned in the Acknowledgements. One participant, Michael Anderson, with both Euahlayi and Kamilaroi heritage, provided such a complete description of the „Emu in the Sky‟ as it related to his culture that he has been included as a co-author of this paper. The „Kamilaroi Project‟ (as we will continue to describe the study conducted by Fuller, Norris and Trudgett) confirmed the hypothesis that the knowledge gained could add to the current body of knowledge of Aboriginal Australian sky cul- ture. Most of the data were released under the terms of the Ethics Approval by Macquarie Uni- versity. This paper presents previously-unpub- lished data from the Kamilaroi Project used to