Pipit

Among the Kendayan (Dayak Kenayatn) people of West Kalimantan province, Borneo, Indonesia, the star ν Pup is identified as a pipit, probably the paddyfield pipit (anthus rufulus).

Etymology and History

ν Pup (then ν in Argo Navis) was identified as a "pipit", or sparrow, by ethnographer M.C. Schadee in a paper on time reckoning amongst the Kendayan ("Landak Dayak") people published in 1914. It is one of a pair of stars (the other being ζ Pup) forming an asterism whose name was recorded by Schadee as Ensoelit. This is also the name of a bird -- "one that often causes great damage to rice in paddy fields". "The [two] rice thieves are close to Sirius".

Mythology

Naik Dango (also known as Gawai Dayak), a ceremony of the Dayak Kanayatn people, is a form of local wisdom that is a legacy of the ancestors of the Dayak people. It is an expression of gratitude and ritual to God (Jubata) so that the harvest in the coming year will also be abundant and free from pests and disasters.

The traditional Naik Dango ceremony originates from a myth among the Dayak Kanayatn people regarding the origin of the rice plant which comes from a stalk of rice belonging to Jubata on the Bawang mountain. One day, a sprig of Jubata's rice was stolen by a sparrow and fell into the hands of Ne Jaek, who was headhunting at the time. Since then, humans called Talino began to recognize rice as their staple food.

IAU Working Group Star Names

Since "Pipit" is not the proper (Kenyatan) name for ν Pup, this is probably not a good choice for an IAU name. On the other hand it might be appropriate to use the asterism name Ensoelit for ν Pup, since ζ Pup already has a name (Naos). But since Ensoelit is a Dutch ethnographer's transcription of a Kenyatan name, we should first establish the modern Kenyatan linguistic conventions to determine the appropriate spelling.