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Malian's Song - Measuring Seasons and Counting Moons in Abenaki
By Marge Bruchac
In the region between southern New England and southern Canada, there are four distinct seasons of the year: winter, spring, summer, and autumn, each lasting approximately 91 days.
The Western Abenaki names for the seasons are:
| Word | Definition |
|---|---|
| Pebon | winter season |
| Sigwan | spring season |
| Niben | summer season |
| Tagwôgo | autumn season |
For generations, Native people have measured the year by a lunar cycle of 13 full moons, which are visible every 28 days, over the couse of the 365 days that make up a year. In Abenaki, the word “kesos” or “kisos,” which also means “sun,” is used to refer to the full moon only when it looks like a fully round orb. The names of the full moons varied from tribe to tribe, and from region to region, since each full moon was known by whichever natural resources were most abundant at that time. By 1759, many Abenaki people at Odanak had also adopted the English and French calendar system of 12 months to measure the year. They continued to use the old names for important seasonal resources and hunting or gathering activities.
| Moon | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1st moon | Alamikos | new year’s greeting moon (January) |
| 2nd moon | Biaôdagos | boughs-shedding moon (February) |
| 3rd moon | Mozokas | moose-hunting moon (March) |
| 4th moon | Zogalikas | maple sugar-making moon (April) |
| 5th moon | Kikas | planting moon (May) |
| 6th moon | Nokkahigas | hoeing moon (June) |
| 7th moon | Sataiikas | blueberry-maker moon (midsummer) |
| 8th moon | Temashikos | hay-making moon (July) |
| 9th moon | Demezôwas | harvesting crops moon (August) |
| 10th moon | Skamonkas | Indian corn-reaping moon (September) |
| 11th moon | Benibagos | leaf-falling moon (October) |
| 12th moon | Mezatanos | ice-forming freezing moon (November) |
| 13th moon | Pebonkas | winter-maker moon (December) |
In 1645, the fur trader William Pynchon noted that the Agawam, Nonotuck, and Pocumtuck Indians used the following names for the full moons. Since the English measured the year by only 12 months instead of 13 moons, Pynchon did not record a translation for the moon named “qunnikesos.” His list reflects the importance of corn (Zea mays) cultivation at that time, a fact reflected in the vast quantities of corn that were being grown, stored, and traded by Native people in the middle Connecticut River Valley during the 1600s.
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1. Squannikesos | When they set Indian corne (pt of Aprill & pt of May) |
| 2. moonesquan nimockkesos | when women weed their corn (pt of May & pt of June, |
| 3. Towwakesos | when they hill Ind corne (pt of June & pt of July) |
| 4. matterl lawawkesos | when squashes are ripe & Ind beans begin to be eatable |
| 5. micheeneekesos | when Ind corne is eatable |
| 6. pah quitaqunkkesos | ye middle between harvest & eating Ind corne |
| 7. pepewarr | bec: of white frost on ye grass & grain |
| 8. qunnikesos | |
| 9. papsapqhoho | about ye 6.th day of January |
| 10. Lowatannassick | So caled bec: they account it ye middle of winter |
| 11. Squo chee kesos | bec ye sun hath strength to thaw |
| 12. Wapicummilcom | bec ye ice in ye River is all gone (pt of February & ...March) |
| 13. Namassack kesos | because of catching fish (pt of March and pt of Aprill |
During the late 1600s, many Native families from the Connecticut River Valley moved north to join the Abenaki villages of Cowass, Missisquoi, Pennacook, and/or Saint Francis/Odanak. In 1967, ethnologist Gordon Day found that the 17th century Agawam names for the full moons were very similar, phonetically, and culturally, to the 20th century Western Abenaki dialect.
| original words, phonetically recorded by William Pynchon | comparative words in St. Francis Abenaki | St. Francis Abenaki modern translation |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Squannikesos | sigwani gizos | spring moon |
| 2. moonesquan nimockkesos | mezaskenimek gizos | keeping weeds out moon |
| 3. Towwakesos | 8towahkahigamek gizos | hilling corn moon |
| 4. matterl lawawkesos | matahtawal gizos | mature flowers moon |
| 5. micheeneekesos | mitsini gizos | eating moon |
| 6. pah quitaqunkkesos | pohkwidagw8goo gizos | it is early fall moon |
| 7. pepewarr | toopuwudt | when there is frost |
| 8. qunnikesos | kwenigizos | long moon |
| 9. papsapqhoho | babass8pkwao | he (winter) half passes |
| 10. Lowatannassick | n8wihponassik | where it is middle winter |
| 11. Squo chee kesos | tokskwatsit gizos | ice honey-combs moon |
| 12. Wapicummilcom | mat ohpihkamalkino | not stepping on it (ice) |
| 13. Namassack kesos | namassak gizos | fishes moon |
See Gordon Day. 1967. “An Agawam Fragment,” International Journal of American Linguistics, Volume 33, no. 3, pp. 244-247.