PAGE 16 • GO! MAGAZINE
Thursday, June 24, 2021 • The BuLLeTIn
cover story
WHAT’S IN A MOON NAME: BEHIND
THE LUNAR NAMING TRADITIONS
BY MAKENZIE WHITTLE • The Bulletin
N
ames for the full moon phases have existed throughout human history as a means of tracking the seasons and knowing when to harvest and hunt.
While we don’t rely on them as much any more, the names we give to full moons are as interesting now as they were helpful in the past. While the
names are old and vary from culture to culture, the English-speaking world seems to have agreed on using a mix of medieval European names and
names from North American Indigenous peoples. Here are the named moons for the next year, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, and some alternatives from
different Native tribes across what is modern-day America, according to Brad’s Astro Pages from Western Washington University. Because a full moon appears in
the stellar night skies every 29.5 days, dates vary from year to year.
JUNE 24: STRAWBERRY MOON
Strawberries are ready to be harvested and
the best of the juicy berries are available at lo-
cal farm stands (Oregon berries are the best
berries). In Europe this was known as the
Rose Moon, but for North America, many
tribes have Strawberry Moons depending on
the their geographical location, the Anishi-
naabe and the Sioux have theirs in June, the
Potawatomi and the Shawnee have theirs in
May and the Cherokee’s is in March. Other
names include Moon of the Crane (Choctaw),
Blackberry Moon (Creek), When the Berries
are Good (Lakota) and Summer Moon (Pas-
samaquoddy).
JULY 23: BUCK MOON
This one comes from when deer start to
show off their full set of antlers. Other names
include Moon When the Buffalo Bellow
(Omaha), Salmon Moon (Tlingit), Limbs Are
Broken By Fruit (Zuni), Grass Cutter Moon
(Abenaki) and The Hot Weather Begins
(Arapaho).
kins, squash, beans and wild rice can be fully
harvested, and farmers can usually work by
the light of the full moon above. Many tribes
have September moon names in relation to
harvesting but a few deviate including Snow
Goose Moon (Cree), Drying Grass Moon
(Cheyenne), Moon Where the Deer Paw at
the Earth (Omaha) and Big Moon (Tlingit).
Typically, the Harvest Moon is the full moon
that occurs closest to the Fall Equinox, which
usually means the September full moon. Ev-
ery few years the Harvest Moon, by that defi-
nition, occurs in October, meaning the Sep-
tember moon is the Corn Moon.
OCT. 20: HUNTER’S MOON
With the harvest done and leaves falling,
game is easier to spot in the fields and trees.
Deer are also fattened after the long summer.
Other names include White Frost on Grass
(Algonquin), Moon of the Wildcat (Choc-
taw), Bears Hibernate (Haida), Moon of Long
Hair (Hopi), Time of Poverty (Mohawk) and
When They Store Food in Caches (Ponca).
NOV. 19: BEAVER MOON
AUG. 22: STURGEON MOON
Traditionally when the sturgeon are most
readily caught around the Great Lakes and
Lake Champlain. Other names include Dry-
ing Up Moon (Cherokee), Green Corn Festi-
val or Courting Time depending on when the
moon occurs (Choctaw), Big Harvest (Creek),
Corn is in the Silk Moon (Ponca) and Berries
Ripe on Mountain (Tlingit).
SEPT. 20: HARVEST MOON OR CORN MOON
This is the time that crops like corn, pump-
This is the time when traditionally bea-
ver traps would be set in order to gather pelts
before the deep winter freezes. Beavers are
also active at this time as they prepare for the
season. This year, a partial lunar eclipse oc-
curs with 97.4% of the moon occulted by the
Earth’s shadow, making it appear blood red.
Other names include Deer Rutting Moon
(Cheyenne), Moving Inside for Winter (Ka-
lapuya), Freezing Moon (Passamaquoddy),
Moon When All Is Gathered In (Pueblo) and
Long Moon (Shawnee).
Continued on next page
Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin file
Alpenglow illuminates the Cascades as the moon begins to set near the horizon in October.
The full moon was also a blue moon for that month, a designation for the second full moon
to occur in a single calendar month. Blue moons occur roughly once every 2½ years.