Sturgeon Full moon tonight Full Moon Names August is the month of the Full Sturgeon Moon. Some Native American tribes (Algonquin) knew that the sturgeon of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain were most readily caught during this full Moon. They also called this the Full Green Corn Moon. Different tribes had different Moon name preferences. Other examples for August are: Wheat Cut Moon (San Ildefonso, and San Juan), or "Moon When All Things Ripen" (Dakotah Sioux) or "Blueberry Moon" (Ojibway Native Americans full Moon names were created to help different tribes track the seasons. Think of it as a "nickname" for the Moon! See our list of other full Moon names for each month of the year and their meanings. Why Native Americans Named the Moons The early Native Americans did not record time by using the months of the Julian or Gregorian calendar. Many tribes kept track of time by observing the seasons and lunar months, although there was much variability. For some tribes, the year contained 4 seasons and started at a certain season, such as spring or fall. Others counted 5 seasons to a year. Some tribes defined a year as 12 Moons, while others assigned it 13. Certain tribes that used the lunar calendar added an extra Moon every few years, to keep it in sync with the seasons. Each tribe that did name the full Moons (and/or lunar months) had its own naming preferences. Some would use 12 names for the year while others might use 5, 6, or 7; also, certain names might change the next year. A full Moon name used by one tribe might differ from one used by another tribe for the same time period, or be the same name but represent a different time period. The name itself was often a description relating to a particular activity/event that usually occurred during that time in their location. Colonial Americans adopted some of the Native American full Moon names and applied them to their own calendar system (primarily Julian, and later, Gregorian). Since the Gregorian calendar is the system that many in North America use today, that is how we have presented the list of Moon names, as a frame of reference. The Native American names have been listed by the month in the Gregorian calendar to which they are most closely associated.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Aug 2013 05:50:22 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015