Lunar calendar marked by 13 moon cycles of 28 days
The Cherokee calendar is traditionally defined as a Lunar calendar marked by 13 moon cycles of 28 days.[note 1] Each cycle was accompanied by a ceremony. In order to rectify the Cherokee calendar with that of the Julian calendar, these cycles were reduced to 12. The seasonal round of ceremonies was integral to Cherokee society. It was considered an important spiritual element for social cohesion and a way to bring all the Cherokee clans together.
The Cherokee, like many other Native tribes, used the number of scutes on the backs of certain species of turtles to determine their calendar cycle. The scutes around the edge added up to 28, the same number of days as in a lunar cycle, while the center contained 13 larger scutes, representing the 13 moon cycles of a year.[1][2]
Turtle shell calendar
Thirteen seasonal moon ceremonies
Cherokee priests, known as ᎠᏂᎫᏔᏂ (A-ni-ku-ta-ni), defined the 13 ceremonies as listed below. The common names in English are listed followed by their names in Cherokee syllabics, the Cherokee name's transcription in the Latin alphabet in parentheses, and a literal translation of the Cherokee name for some of the moons.[3]
Cold Moon – ᏅᏓ ᎧᎾᏬᎦ (Nv-da Ka-na-wo-ga)
Bone Moon – ᏅᏓ ᎪᎳ (Nv-da Ko-la); lit.'So little food the people eat bone marrow soup'
Wind Moon – ᏅᏓ ᎤᏃᎴ (Nv-da U-no-le); lit.'Winds prepare the land for renewal'
Flower Moon – ᏅᏓ ᎠᏥᎷᏍᎩ (Nv-da A-tsi-lu-s-gi); lit.'Flowers bloom and the earth is renewed'
Planting Moon – ᏅᏓ ᎦᏢᏍᎦ (Nv-da Ga-hlv-sga); lit.'Putting it in a hole'
Green Corn Moon – ᏅᏓ ᏎᎷᎢᏤᎢᏳᏍᏗ (Nv-da Se-lu-i-tse-i-yu-s-di); lit.'The corn is up'
Corn in Tassel Moon – ᏅᏓ ᎤᏥᏣᏔ (Nv-da U-tsi-dsa-ta); lit.'The corn is showing a tassel'
With the expansion of Euro-American influences in North America, the Cherokee adapted their calendar to the widely accepted Julian calendar. As such the 13-moon phase calendar was gradually replaced by a 12-month calendar. However, the months were still associated with ceremonies and are still practiced by traditional Cherokee today.
Below is a list of months according to the Julian calendar followed by their Latin transliterated Kituwah and Overhill dialect name and then Cherokee syllabics for each dialect.[4][5][6][7]
Below is a list of months as they appeared in ethnological studies and books of the Cherokee people from 1894 into the late 20th century, with Julian calendar name followed by Cherokee names and finally the meanings and associations:
^"THIRTEEN MOONS Curriculum"(PDF). onlc.ca. Ontario Native Literacy Coalition, 2010. Archived from the original(PDF) on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
