428 Specimen of an Indian Calendar. 



The names of the months are as follow: viz. 



Che-t6-re. 



ChE-t6-KE- KO-NAH *. 

 TiS-SAH. 



TiS-SAH-KO-NAH. 



KONE-LA-TOCH-AH, 



KONE-LA-TOCn-KO-NAH 



Ee-set-ah. 



Ee-ra-ko-nah. 



hus-hess-kohah. 

 kos-hess-ko-hah. 

 Kan-tah-hah. 



December : " the cool month." 



January: " the cold month." 



February: " the snow is legin- 

 ving to pass away." 



March: " snow is now gone in 

 reality; or is fast going.'* 



April: "the bud-month;" or 



the trees begin to leaf. 

 , May: "the leaf-month;" the 

 leaves being fully out. 



June: " the corn-month;" the 

 maize, or Indian corn, being 

 come up; and fit for thej^j'5^ 

 dressing. 



July: *' the corn is up in full," 

 and fit to receive its second 

 dressing. 



August: " the corn is making 

 its heads ;" or ears. 



September: the month when "the 

 ear is full," or fit for boiling. 



October: the month when *' ve- 

 getation begins to fall away ;" 

 being affected by the frost. — 

 It may be called the month of 

 Defoliation. 



that the Indian months, which I have mentioned, eractly correspond to the 

 months of our calendar. — On the subject of the manner of dividing time 

 among the Indians (as well the rude as more cultivated) of North America, 

 1 have collected some importaui information, which I shall communicate to 

 the public at a future period. At present, I shall onlv observe, that from tlsc 

 neat and simple calendar of the Onondagos, it is easy to perceive that they 

 were more of an agricuUuralpeop\e than many of the other American tribes; 

 than those, perhaps, who had a " Herring-month," a " Sturgeon-month," 

 and a "Beaver-month," in their enumeration of the yeai. And the Sii- 

 Nations, of whom the Onondagos formed a part, and a noble part, were, 

 it is known, much more attached to the cultivation of the earth, thaij 

 the Delawares, and many other tribes. — From this calendar it is also 

 natural to infer, that the Onondagos have, for a very considerable length 

 of time, — for several centuries kt least, — been settled nearly in the same 

 tract of country, or upon the same parallel of latitude, in which they now 

 reside. If, as I suppose, they came from the south-west, they must have 

 altered, and accommodated, their calendar to the more northern regions 

 of which they took possession. — The Mexicans, we are informed, made a 

 considerable change in their calendar, v\'hen, migrating from the northern 

 Atzlan, they seated themselves in the milder and more southern and more 

 happy clime of Anahuac. * 



• The meaning of koiiah jeems to be " in reality," or " in great earnest." 



Kan- 



