Mi'kmaw moons : the seasons in Mi'kma'ki /

Normal View MARC View ISBD View
by LeBlanc, Cathy
[ ] Authors: Chapman, G. P.--(Geoffrey Peter)--author. | Gould, Loretta,--illustrator. Physical details: 56 pages : colour illustrations ; 28 cm Subject(s): Lunar calendars --Canada, Eastern. | Seasons --Canada, Eastern. | Traditional ecological knowledge --Canada, Eastern. | Mi'kmaq --Social life and customs. | Moon --Phases. Item type :
Location Collection Call Number Status Date Due
Education Learning Commons Indigenous 523.3 LEB Available

Includes bibliographical references.

Traditional teachings about the moon cycles and their relation to the natural history of Mi'kma'ki on Canada's East Coast. For thousands of years, the Mi'kmaq have been closely observing the natural world and the cycles of the moon and the stars to track the passage of time. Each full moon in an annual cycle was named by the Mi'kmaq to relate to a seasonal event, such as tomcod spawning, birds laying eggs or berry ripening. For the past decade Mi'kmaw Elders and Knowledge Keepers have shared stories of the traditional night sky calendar with authors Cathy LeBlanc and David Chapman. In this book Cathy relays these stories in her role as Auntie to her young relation Holly. Each moon's story is richly illustrated with an evocative colour painting created for this book by the noted Mi'kmaw artist Loretta Gould. Alongside this presentation of the Mi'kmaw time-keeping traditions, this book offers a brief history of the modern Western calendar, and some basic astronomy facts about the moon's phases and why the seasons change. This two-eyed seeing approach takes young readers on a journey through one full year in Mi'kma'ki.