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method was to put pebbles in a bag, one pebble for each day. There were 
six seasons in their year: winter ( bibon ), the maple-sugar time ( sigun ), 
spring (minokamik ) , summer ( nibin ), autumn ( tagwagig ), and the trout- 
fishing season ( nimegsikang ) , about the beginning of October. There were 
also thirteen moons, named, like the seasons, either from natural phenomena 
or from the coincident activities of the Indians. Today these activities 
have largely changed, and the Indians use the English calendar, so that 
lists of their old calendar obtained from different informants do not entirely 
agree, as appears from the two examples given below: 
Calendar 
— 
List 1 1 
List 2 2 
Dec. -Jan 
Jan.-Feb 
djibibongizis 
mehinigizis 
“moon of suckers.” 
djibibongizis . 
makwagizis. 
“bear moon,” because the bear 
Feb.-Mar 
onabinigizis 
“moon of crusted snow.” 
comes out in this month. 
onabinigizis or “ manidogizisons .” 
“manido moon,” v r hen the windigo 
Mar.-April . . . 
sizbakudikegizis 
“sugar-making moon.” 
wabigwanigizis 
travels and the Indians starve 
and sometimes eat one another. 
sizubakudikegizis . 
April-May. . . 
wabigwanigizis or dimebinigizis. 
“moon of blossoms.” 
“moon when suckers spawn.” 
May-June 
iigegizis 
kitigegizis. 
“planting moon” 
“gardening moon.” 
June- July 
or 
deminkegizis 
“strawberry moon.” 
optanifnnigizis 
“mid-summer moon.” 
minigizis. 
“moon of berries.” 
July-Aug 
minkegizis 
“moon of ripening berries.” 
optanibinigizis or tatigagominigizis. 
“blackberry moon.” 
Aug.-Sept 
mindaminikegizis 
“moon of ripening corn.” 
sigakinigegizis. 
“harvest moon.” 
Sept.-Oct .... 
meksigizis 
nimegusigizis. 
“trout-fishing moon.” 
“trout-fishing moon.” 
or 
or 
bind kwegizis 
bind kwegizis. 
Oct.-Nov 
November . . . 
“moon of falling leaves.” 
nidowenzigegizis 
nibnasigegizis 
nidowenzigegizis. 
December. . . . 
“moon that shines as in summer.” 
shkiHbongizis 
“young winter moon.” 
1 John Manatuwaba. 
* Jonas King and Francis Fegahmagabow. These two informants supplied names for eleven moons only, but 
believed there should be thirteen. 
The hardest season for the Ojibwa was the period from early February 
until about the middle of March. This was the coldest moon, when their 
stores of berries, sugar, and wild rice had been exhausted and fish and 
game furnished the sole means of subsistence. At other seasons they could 
gather roots and berries, or, in an emergency, strip the barks from certain 
