Editing Canis Minor (section)

=== In non-Western astronomy ===

In [[Chinese astronomy]], the stars corresponding to Canis Minor lie in the [[Vermilion Bird of the South]] (南方朱雀, ''Nán Fāng Zhū Què''). Procyon, Gomeisa and Eta Canis Minoris form an asterism known as Nánhé, the Southern River.<ref name="ridpath star tales"/><ref>{{cite web |author1 = 陳冠中 |author2 = 陳輝樺 |url = http://aeea.nmns.edu.tw/2006/0607/ap060716.html |publisher = AEEA (Activities of Exhibition and Education in Astronomy) |script-title = zh:天文教育資訊網 |date = 16 July 2006 |language = zh |access-date = 20 December 2010 |archive-date = 22 August 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110822132833/http://aeea.nmns.edu.tw/2006/0607/ap060716.html |url-status = dead }}</ref> With its counterpart, the Northern River Beihe ([[Castor (star)|Castor]] and [[Pollux (star)|Pollux]]), Nánhé was also associated with a gate or sentry. Along with [[Zeta Cancri|Zeta]] and [[8 Cancri]], [[6 Canis Minoris]] and [[11 Canis Minoris]] formed the asterism ''Shuiwei'', which literally means "water level". Combined with additional stars in [[Gemini (constellation)|Gemini]], Shuiwei represented an official who managed floodwaters or a marker of the water level.<ref name="ridpath star tales"/> Neighboring Korea recognized four stars in Canis Minor as part of a different constellation, "the position of the water". This constellation was located in the Red Bird, the southern portion of the sky.<ref>{{cite journal |title = A Korean Star Map |last1 = Rufus |first1 = W. Karl |last2 = Chao |first2 = Celia |pages = 316–26 |journal = Isis |volume = 35 |issue = 4 |date = Autumn 1944 |jstor = 330843 |doi = 10.1086/358723|s2cid = 144879973 }}</ref>

[[Polynesian people]]s often did not recognize Canis Minor as a constellation, but they saw Procyon as significant and often named it; in the [[Tuamotu Archipelago]] it was known as ''Hiro'', meaning "twist as a thread of coconut fiber", and ''Kopu-nui-o-Hiro'' ("great paunch of Hiro"), which was either a name for the modern figure of Canis Minor or an alternative name for Procyon. Other names included ''Vena'' (after a [[goddess]]), on [[Mangaia]] and ''Puanga-hori'' (false ''Puanga'', the name for [[Rigel]]), in [[New Zealand]]. In the [[Society Islands]], Procyon was called ''Ana-tahua-vahine-o-toa-te-manava'', literally "Aster the priestess of brave heart", figuratively the "pillar for elocution".<ref>{{cite book| last = Makemson | first = Maud Worcester | year = 1941 | publisher = Yale University Press | location = New Haven, Connecticut | title = The Morning Star Rises: An Account of Polynesian Astronomy | pages = 199, 209, 247, 267, 280| bibcode = 1941msra.book.....M }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title = Tahitian Astronomy: Birth of the Heavenly Bodies |last = Henry |first = Teuira |authorlink=Teuira Henry|journal = The Journal of the Polynesian Society |volume = 16 |issue = 2 |pages= 101–04 |date = June 1907 | jstor = 20700813}}</ref> The [[Wardaman people]] of the [[Northern Territory]] in Australia gave Procyon and Gomeisa the names ''Magum'' and ''Gurumana'', describing them as humans who were transformed into [[gum trees]] in [[the Dreaming]]. Although their skin had turned to bark, they were able to speak with a human voice by rustling their leaves.<ref name="darksparklers">{{cite book|last=Harney|first=Bill Yidumduma |author2=Cairns, Hugh C.|title=Dark Sparklers|publisher=Hugh C. Cairns|location=Merimbula, New South Wales|year=2004|orig-year=2003|edition=Revised|page=142|isbn=978-0-9750908-0-0}}</ref>

The [[Aztec calendar]] was related to [[Aztec astronomy|their cosmology]]. The stars of Canis Minor were incorporated along with some stars of Orion and Gemini into an asterism associated with the day called "Water".<ref>{{cite journal |title = Calendar Animals and Deities |last = Kelley |first = David H. |pages = 317–337 [333] |journal = Southwestern Journal of Anthropology |volume = 16 |issue = 3 |date = Autumn 1960 |doi = 10.1086/soutjanth.16.3.3629035 |jstor = 3629035|s2cid = 131473640 }}</ref>