Primitive Time-reckoning: A study in the origins and first development of the art of counting time among the primitive and early culture peoplesNilsson, Martin P. (Martin Persson)
History
Primitive Time-reckoning: A study in the origins and first development of the art of counting time among the primitive and early culture peoples
Nilsson, Martin P. (Martin Persson)
Chronology
Some of the tribes of the Cheyenne name twelve moons in the year,
but many tribes have not more than six; and different bands of the
same tribe, if occupying widely separated sections of the country,
will have different names for the same moon. Knowing well the habits
of the animals, and having roamed over vast areas, they readily
recognise any special moon that may be mentioned, even though their
name for it may be different. One of the nomenclatures used by the
Teton-Sioux and the Cheyenne, beginning with the moon just before
winter, is as follows:--1, moon when the leaves fall off; 2, when
the buffalo cow’s foetus is getting large; 3, when the wolves run
together; 4, when the skin of the foetus of the buffalo commences to
colour; 5, when the hair gets thick on the buffalo foetus, called
also ‘men’s month’, or ‘hard month’; 6, the sore-eye moon, buffalo
cows drop their calves; 7, moon when the ducks come; 8, moon when
the grass commences to get green and some roots are fit to be eaten;
9, moon when the corn is planted; 10, when the buffalo bulls are
fat; 11, when the buffalo cows are in season; 12, when the plums get
red[744].
The Omaha name the moons as follows, from January on:--1, when the
snow drifts into the tents of the Honga; 2, the moon when geese come
home (back); 3, the little frog moon; 4, the moon in which nothing
happens; 5, the moon in which they plant; 6, the buffalo bulls hunt
the cows; 7, when the buffalo bellow; 8, when the elk bellow; 9,
when the deer paw the earth; 10, when the deer rut; 11, when the
deer shed their antlers; 12, when little black bears are born.
The Oto and Iowa tribes use the same names for the months, except
for January, which is called ‘the raccoon month’[745]. The Kiowa
have twelve months, but some writers give 14 or 15, the names of
which are repetitions of the others. As to the first eight all are
unanimous, for the ninth all informants but one are in agreement,
for the following there is disagreement. The list, which begins
in Sept.-Oct., comes from an Indian specially well versed in the
calendar. 1, the ‘ten-colds moon’: the first ten days are cold,
after the full moon winter and the new year begin; 2, ‘wait until
I come’ (_äganti_ without the word _p’a_, ‘moon’); 3, ‘geese-going
moon’, sometimes ‘sweathouse moon’; 4, ‘real-goose moon’; 5,
‘little-bud moon’, the first buds come out: the first half belongs
to winter, the second to spring; 6, ‘bud moon’, sometimes with
‘great’ prefixed; 7, ‘leaf moon’; 8, summer _äganti_: its full moon
forms the boundary between spring and summer; 9, ‘summer-geese-going
moon’, seems to be placed too late; 10, ‘summer-real-goose moon’;
11, ‘little-moon-of-deer-horns-dropping-off’, the deer begin to shed
their horns; 12, similarly named, or sometimes with the addition of
‘great’: with this full moon autumn begins[746]. The year of the
Pawnee varied between 12 and 13 months; the names are not given[747],
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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