The Giraffe and the Stars

A long long time ago, when the heavens and earth were created, the story goes that there was a purpose for all animals, except for Giraffe. And Giraffe had noticed it too, which made him really sad. Giraffe wanted to be useful, just like all the other animals. But he had no real skills to set him apart from the rest, was always staring up at the sky and was tall and clumsy.But one day, they realised that Giraffe could indeed be very useful, because he was so tall and always staring at the sky. You see, the Sun was often getting lost in the heavens, bumping up and down, and it needed someone to guide it along its path. So Giraffe was put to work watching the Sun, and guide it around the sky. All day and all night, Giraffe stared at the sky, guiding the Sun in the right direction, making sure that the Sun never lost its way again.

Giraffe was very happy to finally have a purpose. And he did such a good job that in honour of him, some stars were rearranged in the sky so that they would always point in the direction of the Sun. For us, the constellation is known as the Southern Cross, but a long, long time ago, it was known as Giraffe. So when you look up to the sky, take a moment to find the Southern Cross and remember that even though you might not realise it yet, everybody has something that sets him or her apart. Even Giraffe.

————-

At the very beginning of time, say the bushmen, the sun did not know its way around the heavens. Giraffe had a habit of staring curiously at everything, and so the creator thought it would be a good idea of giving giraffe the task of watching over the sun, so that it didn’t go astray. Giraffe was perfect for this job as with his long neck he could see the sun from the moment it rose on one horizon until it set on the opposite horizon. Giraffe took this job very seriously and never again did the sun take a wrong turn. The creator was very proud of giraffe and decided to honour him. He rearranged some of the stars so they made a giraffe shape in the night sky, and you can still see them to this day. The bushman call this constellation Tutwa (Giraffe) and use it to guide them at night. English speaking people call Tutwa the Southern Cross and use it to guide them too

In Sotho, Tswana and Venda traditions, these stars are Dithutlwa, “The Giraffes”. The bright stars of Crux are male giraffes, and the two Pointers are female. The Venda called the fainter stars of the Southern Cross Thudana, “The Little Giraffe”. They also say that the month Khubvhumedzi begins when the crescent Moon can be seen for the first time and, at the same time, the lower two giraffe stars are just below the horizon and the upper two are just visible. Sotho lore tells that when the giraffe stars are seen close to the south-western horizon just after sunset, they indicate the beginning of cultivating season.