Other Cultures' Stories

Matariki (Maori, New Zealand):
Matariki is what the New Zealand Maori call Pleiades. Matariki translates to tiny eyes (Mata Riki) or eyes of God (Mata Ariki). It is said that when Tane Mahuta (Maori god of the forest) separated his parents, his brother Tawhirimatea (god of the winds) was so angry that he tore his eyes out of his head and threw them up into the heavens.

The Flint Boys (Navajo Tribe, North America):
After the earth was separated from the Black Sky God, he had a cluster of stars on his ankle, The Flint Boys.
When the Black Sky God had his first dance, at each stamp of his foot The Flint Boys jumped first to his knee, then to his shoulder, then to his hip and the last jump to his forehead. They remain there as a sign that the Black Sky God is the Lord of the Sky.

The Orphan Boys (The Blackfoot Tribe, North America):
To the Blackfoot tribe of Alberta and North Montana the Pleiades were known as the Orphan Boys. The Orphan Boys were fatherless boys who were rejected by the tribe and became friends with a pack of wolves.
Sick of their lives on earth, they asked the Great Spirit if they could play in the sky together. He sent them into the sky as a small star cluster.

The Seven Sisters (Greek):
In Greek mythology, Pleiades were the seven sisters, Maia, Electra, Alcyone, Taygete, Asterope, Celaeno and Merope with their parents - Atlas who holds up the sky, and Pleione, the protector of sailing.
The seven sisters and their mother met with Orion (a hunter) who started to give chase. Inspired by love Orion kept chasing them across the Earth. Zeus (the ruler of the gods) felt sorry for them and tuned them into doves and sent them to the heavens to become the Pleiades.
Zeus punished Atlas by the absence of his wife and daughters, and for an additional punishment he had to forever hold up the sky and the heavens.
You can see only six stars with the naked eye, but the Greek explanation for this is either that all the daughters took husbands that were gods except for Merope whose husband was mortal. In shame she deserted her sisters.
Or Electra, an ancestress of the royal house of Troy, was grief stricken after the destruction of Troy. She abandoned her sisters and turned into a comet signaling impending doom.

Pleiades (The Western Mono Indians, North America):
The Western Mono Indians believed that the Pleiades were a group of wives who would continuously eat onions. They were thrown out of their homes by their angry husbands.The husbands regretted what they had done in their loneliness. When they went looking for their wives they wandered into the sky and became the Pleiades.

Other Meanings

Subaru (Japan):
Meaning gathered together or Hoki Boshi meaning the brush stars or dabs of paint on the sky.

Mao (China):
Which means the hairy head of the white tiger of the west or the flower stars.

Kungakarungkara (Australian Aborigines):
To the aborigines of the Pitjantjatjara tribe this means the ancestral women. .

Aztecs (Mexico):
Tianquiztli means a gathering place or market.

Kartikeya (India):
Translates to him of the Pleiades. It is also the god of warfare.

Ãlker (Turkey):
Ãlker translates to Pleiades but in Turkey is referred to the original point of contact with the realm of the gods or a source of comfort at a time of sadness, grief, or disappointment.

Khuseti (South Africa):
They are known as the stars of rain.

Ancient Egypt:
Pleiades were believed to be the goddess (Net or Neth) mother or lady of the heavens.

Freya’s Hens (The Vikings):
Freya’s hens is what they called Pleiades.

Kimah (Hebrew):
Translates to a cluster.