Let’s Talk Trash! JAN / FEB 2021 ©2020 - 2021 The Keenan Group, Inc
21
MOONS...
Traditionally, the Moon we see in February is called the Snow Moon because usually the heaviest snows fall in February. This name dates back to the Native Americans during Colonial times when the Moons were a way of tracking the seasons. And the Native Americans were right. On average, February is the USA’s snowiest month, according to data from the National Weather Service. Hunting becomes very difficult, and so some Native American tribes called this the Hunger Moon. Other Native American tribes called this Moon the “Shoulder to Shoulder Around the Fire Moon” (Wishram Native Americans), the “No Snow in the Trails Moon” (Zuni Native Americans), and the “Bone Moon” (Cherokee Native Americans). The Bone Moon meant that there was so little food that people gnawed on bones and ate bone marrow soup. 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.
Our moon makes Earth a more livable planet by moderating our home planet’s wobble on its axis, leading to a relatively stable climate, and creating a tidal rhythm that has guided humans for thousands of years. The moon was likely formed after a Mars-sized body collided with Earth and the debris formed into the most prominent feature in our night sky. It is the only celestial a body beyond Earth that has been visited by human beings. Distance from the Earth About 239,000 miles. “Year” (time to orbit the Earth) About 27 Earth days
Minimum temperature 387 degrees Fahrenheit Maximum temperature 253 degrees Fahrenheit
Full Moon Names Native American Names for Full Moons
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.
https://www.almanac.com/astronomy/moon/full
Colleen Quinnell, The Old Farmer's Almanac
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