Did You Know? - Solar and Lunar Impact on Spring The annual cycles of the seasons are celebrated with essentially the same customs worldwide. Native American practices differ, depending on whether the celebration is for a hunting society or agricultural. Elements consistently included in all of these observances are affirmation or encouragement of what is happening in nature at the turning of the seasons, and petitioning for the most favorable conditions for crops or hunting. The ceremonies of Spring and Winter were especially important. Many of the cultures of the Americas divided their year into four parts [Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter] using the sun and the moon for calculations. The four seasons were then broken into months using the solar cycle and lunar phases. Throughout the Native lands, there are sacred places used for these observances which are very precisely placed so that they are aligned with seasonal events in the skies, mostly involving the sun and moon but often certain constellations as well. In the Dine [Navajo] territories, a sun dagger appears at midday on Spring Equinox to light up a set of petroglyphs associated with Changing Woman, a goddess figure who is said to mate with the Sun. For the Lakotas, Spring is the eastern quadrant of the Circle of Life. The golden eagle is the sacred animal most associated with this time of the year, as his feathers are gold like the sun. The Lakota watched the early evening sky for the rising of the constellation they called Dried Willow, which showed them it was time to "Welcome back the Thunderers" at the beginning of the season of renewal. Check out: Lakota Star Map [Click Here] At the Mayan site of Chichen Itza, when the sun sets on Spring Equinox day, a shadow resembling a snake moves down the pyramid. Since ancient times this event has been celebrated as The Return of the Sun Serpent. Did You Know? - Springtime Agriculture The majority of the Northeastern and Southeastern cultures planted and harvested the Three Sisters - maize, squash, and beans. Potatoes, pumpkins, cucumbers, melons, cabbage, and turnips and various other crops were also grown. The Inca grew maize, white and sweet potatoes, quinoa, pineapple and several other crops. They grew over twenty different types of maize and two-hundred forty different types of potatoes. The Lenni Lenape who lived along the Atlantic ocean and other coastal areas called March the "shad moon/month" because the shad would swim upriver to spawn at this time. The Lenni Lenape that lived farther inland in more mountainous regions would call March the "running of the sap moon/month" or the "sugar-making moon/month" because at this time the harvest of maple sap would begin. The Lenni Lenape called May the "planting moon/month". The Lenni Lenape would measure the leaves of the white oak tree to determine when it was time to begin planting the crops, especially the maize. Did You Know? - Springtime Festivals, Rituals, and Mythology The Round Dance is performed by many diverse tribes in honor of the coming of Spring. The dancers hold hands and move clockwise [the same way the sun goes] usually around a tree or pole. For the Northern Shoshone and Bannocks of the Plateau region, this celebrates the first antelope hunt of the year. Other dances are the Shawnee Spring Bread Dance and the Spokane Prairie Chicken (Grouse) Dance. In Alaska, there is a Spring whaling festival, Nolukatak. The festival is performed to win the favor of spirits of deceased whales and insure good hunting for the coming season. Among the Chippewa, the most important event for their medicine society is the Midewiwin, held twice a year at Spring and Autumn. During this time of initiation and teaching, each member receives a medicine bag containing objects of personal power used for healing and other spiritual purposes. This is kept for a lifetime and was buried with them. The Pawnees dedicated their Spring ceremonies to Morning Star, because her marriage with Evening Star brought light and warmth to the world. This is especially significant on the first day of Spring, when day and night are equal. There was a ceremony involving a sacrifice to obtain blessing for the tribe. Originally, Pawnee warriors would capture a young girl from an enemy tribe to play the role of Morning Star. For four days, she was treated like a goddess, offered special food and dressed in the finest clothing. The men gathered willow, elder, cottonwood and elm, each wood associated with one of the four sacred directions and a sacred animal. From these four woods, a scaffold was built. At the end of the festival, the girl was brought to the scaffold. As the Morning Star rose, an arrow was shot into her heart. Her blood fell onto buffalo meat that was below the scaffold and this was part of a feast, during which Mother Corn and Morning Star were honored. In 1816, Pitalesharo (Man Chief), son of a Pawnee chief, cut the Morning Star girl free just before the arrow was shot. Although this was an exchange of his life for the girl's, he lived to become a chief and that was the last time the sacrifice was performed. Coyote is one of the main cultural figures among the Plateau people. His reputation as trickster is well-known but he is seen as bringing meaning and spiritual authority to the world. There is a Coyote story connected with the spring season and the return of the salmon to the rivers. Coyote brought salmon when he made his way up the Columbia River and its branches, as he gave names to the landmarks and streams. Near the Celilo Falls, The Sisters had made a dam that kept all the salmon for themselves. Coyote disguised himself as a child and broke the dam, setting the salmon free, and he turned the Sisters into birds. These birds appear each spring to announce the arrival of the salmon. Incan festivals were associated with the agricultural cycles. Don't forget that in the Southern Hemisphere, the time of year was actually fall and not spring. Several festivals/months are listed here: Zarap Tuta Cavai Mitan [January] or the time to watch the corn grow. Pacha Pucuy Quilla [March] or the month of the land’s maturation. Camai Quilla [April] or the month of harvest and rest. The Lenni Lenape called August the "roasting ears moon/month" and it was a time of great joy and celebration as the maize was ready to be roasted and eaten. Most of the Shawnee ceremonies centered on the growing cycle of their crops. There were ceremonies and rituals for the maple tree, strawberry, beans, squash and various other plants. The corn ceremonies were the most vital to the Shawnee. At the end of spring/beginning of summer, the Shawnee would perform their Green Corn Dance. This ceremony took place when the corn began to ripen. It was seen as a continuation of previous ceremonies and hopefully with the performance of this dance, the harvest would be successful. Offerings of fresh vegetables were often made at the ceremony.

Did You Know? - The Spring Beauty A Chippewa Story An old man was sitting in his lodge, by the side of a frozen stream. It was the end of Winter, the air was not so cold, and his fire was nearly out. He was old and alone. His locks were white with age, and he trembled in every joint. Day after day passed, and he heard nothing but the sound of the storm sweeping before it the new-fallen snow. One day while his fire was dying, a handsome young man entered the lodge. His cheeks were red, his eyes sparkled. He walked with a quick, light step. His forehead was bound with sweet-grass, and he carried a bunch of fragrant flowers in his hand. "Ah, my Son," said the old man, "I am happy to see you. Come in. Tell me your adventures, and what strange lands you have seen. I will tell you my wonderful deeds, and what I can perform. You shall do the same, and we will amuse each other." The old man then drew from a bag a curiously wrought pipe. He filled it with mild tobacco, and handed it to his guest. They each smoked from the pipe, and then began their stories. "I am Peboan, the Spirit of Winter," said the old man. "I blow my breath, and the streams stand still. The water becomes stiff and hard as clear stone." "I am Seegwun, the Spirit of Spring," answered the youth. "I breathe, and flowers spring up in the meadows and woods." "I shake my locks," said the old man, "and the snow covers the land. The leaves fall from the trees, and my breath blows them away. The birds fly to the distant land, and the animals hide themselves from the cold." "I shake my ringlets," said the young man, "and the warm showers of soft rain fall upon the Earth. The flowers lift their heads from the ground, and the grass grows thick and green. My voice recalls the birds, and they come flying joyfully from the Southland. The warmth of my breath unbinds the streams, and they sing the songs of Summer. Music fills the groves wherever I walk, and all Nature rejoices." And while they were thus talking, a wonderful change took place. The Sun began to rise. A gentle warmth stole over the place. Peboan, the Spirit of Winter, became silent. His head drooped, and the snow outside the lodge melted away. Seegwun, the Spirit of Spring, grew more radiant, and rose joyfully to his feet. The Robin and the Bluebird began to sing on the top of the lodge. The stream murmured past the door, and the fragrance of opening flowers came softly on the breeze. The lodge faded away, and Peboan sank down and dissolved into tiny streams of water, that vanished under the brown leaves of the forest. Thus the Spirit of Winter departed, and where he melted away the Indian children gathered the first blossoms, fragrant and delicately pink,—the modest Spring Beauty. Quoted Directly From: The Baldwin Project Copyright (c) 2000-2007 Lisa Ripperton

Bibliography Encyclopedia Britannica. Volume 13: Accounting to Architecture and Volume 26: Pre-Columbian – Sacred; Macropedia: Knowledge in Depth. University of Chicago, Chicago. 1990 Fulkerson, Chuck. The Shawnee. Rourke Publications; Vero Beach, Florida: 1992 Heckewelder, John. The History, Manners, and Cutoms of the Indian Nations Who Once Inhabited Pennsylvania and the Neighboring States. Arno Press and New York Times; New York: 1818, reprinted 1971. Moulton, Candy. Everyday Life Among American Indians. Terrell, John Upton. American Indian Almanac. Verslius, Arthur. Native American Traditions.