cattle raising activities . The Southern Cross dictates the calendar in the Andes ; it says when it is time to harvest and when it is time to start sowing .
• The ancient inhabitants of the Andes organised their territory according to the laws of the stars . One of their most important constellations was the Southern Cross . Based on it they found the measures needed to organise their lands . They did it by bringing the constellation down to Earth using “ water mirrors ” ( an amphora with water , which , when a star is on the zenith , reflects the starlight directly on the ground ), and obtained the unit called Tupu ( distance from end to end in the shortest arm ), which corresponds to 20.4 meters .
• In the medicine wheel of the Quechua , the Mapuche and other native people , the four stars form a “ square cross ”, which is the axis of the wheel and which can be seen clearly depicted in the drawings of the kultrún , the drum used by the machis ( Mapuche healers ) during their healing ceremonies . In each of the four parts the kultrun results divided , they paint suns , moons or stars on it .
• For the old inhabitants of the zone of Esquel , province of Chubut ( Argentina ), the Southern Cross is represented as “ the pawmarks of the Chokie or ñandú ( a large bird ) escaping from the bolas of the hunters ”. This animal was sacred for them .
• For the Bororó ( in Brazil ), the Southern Cross was to be found in the paw of a large ñandú ( Chokie ).
• The legend of the Mocovies ( Chaqueño Wood , between Paraguay and Río de la Plata ) tells that the Southern Cross is part of the body of a ñandú . However , this ñandú was not completely free of danger : the stars Alpha and Beta Centauri , and several other stars , depicted two threatening dogs .
• For the Mapuche and the Tobas , two people far away from each other , the Coal Sack portrayed the body of the ñandú , laying on the ground , and the paw is formed by the four stars of the Southern Cross . There are cultures that saw the ñandú in nearly the whole Milky Way .
• Farther to the South , the tribes of the Andes tell the legend of Nemec . Nemec was the chief hunter and wanted to capture a choike ( ñandú ). When the bird was about to be captured he escaped flying to the stars . The chief then threw the bolas using his whole strength . They did not reach the bird but stayed in the sky , near the paw of the choike , as the stars we know as Alpha and Beta Centauri . They are also known as “ the buoys of the Southern Cross ” because they seem to point to the smaller mast of the cross .
• The cultures of the Ecuadorian seashore celebrate the feast of the crosses . This consist of adoration of a cross dressed as a woman and watched over during one night . Then the cross is escorted to the church where a priest blesses the “ Holy Cross ”. This feast is related with archeoastronomy because it is celebrated during the time in which the Southern Cross shines at its most over this zone ( likely following a tradition from their ancestors ).
• The Inca also regarded the Southern Cross as very important . There are many imperial buildings related to this constellation . As their stars pointed directly to the Celestial South Pole , they needed to know it in order to determine the different times of the year ( seasons , time of sowing / harvest , solstices , equinoxes , etc ).
• The Bolivian people celebrate on May 3 the Cross but , in this case , they talk specifically of the feast of the Southern Cross constellation . Their ancestors venerated this constellation with the name Achakana ( Southern Cross ). [ 11 ]