page_title: Tswana people
section_title: Tswana astronomy
hierarchical_section_title: Tswana people / Tswana astronomy
caption_attribution_description: English: Artist's conception of the Milky Way galaxy.
context_page_description: The Tswana are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group who are native to Southern Africa. The Tswana language is a member of Sotho-Tswana language group which belongs to the Bantu language family group. Both Northern Sotho and Sesotho derive from the Setswana language and the people speaking these languages are an offshoot of the tswana people. Ethnic Tswana made up approximately 85% of the population of Botswana in 2011.
  The Tswana are the native people of south-western Botswana, Gauteng, North West and some parts of Northern Cape provinces of South Africa where the majority of the Tswana live.
context_section_description: Astronomy is an old age tradition in Africa. As with all other cultures, various ethnic groups developed their own interpretations of the solar system.  Using their natural instrument the eye, Batswana have observed, commented on and named celestial objects of interest to them. There are more telling and specific names that relate to unique stellar patterns and their seasonal appearance e.g. Selemela, Naka, Thutlwa, and Dikolojwane. According to Tswana culture, the stars of Orion's sword were "dintsa le Dikolobe", three dogs chasing three pigs of Orion's belt. The Milky Way was viewed by the Tswana as Molalatladi, the place where lightning rests. It was further believed that this place of rest also kept the sky from collapsing and showed the movement of time.  Some even claimed that it turned the sun to the east, in a way to explaining the rising of the sun. It was also believed that it was a supernatural footpath across the sky along which ancestors' spirits walked. The moon (Ngwedi) is said to represent a woman; it brings forth light but not as scorching as the Sun (Letsatsi) and its light is associated with happiness. Venus is called Mphatlalatsana (the brilliant and blinding one) by Batswana & Kopadilalelo (seeker of evening meals).  The southern African calendar was made up of 354 days, (12 x 29.5 day lunar month). This was 11 days shorter than the solar year, an issue which could not be ignored.  The solution was to add an additional month, when necessary, to "catch up".  Some years were 12 months long, others 13. After the arrival of Europeans and the introduction of the Gregorian calendar, it was noted that the Batswana people had started forgetting the name of the 13th month. In contrast to Europe, where the new year is in the middle of winter, in southern Africa it logically started in September or October at the start of the new growing season. 
  Raditladi Basin, a large peak ring impact crater on Mercury with a diameter of 263 km is named after Leetile Disang Raditladi. a Motswana playwright and poet.
caption: Milky Way Galaxy
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