THE 13 WSANEC MOONS
TW̱E ₭O₭E ȽTE E TŦE MEQ SÁN NIȽ SȻÁs TŦE W̱ENITEM ȽḴÁLJ I TŦE WÁĆ QENT E ȽTE.
W̱UÁs SE TÁĆEL TŦE W̱ENITEM I U HOÍ LE TŦE ȽḴÁLJ XIĆTEṈ ȽTE SXÁĆEȽ SDÁĆEṈ U ȻENTOL TŦE ȽḴÁLJ I TŦE SDÁĆEṈ MEQ STÁṈ E TŦEN SHELI U SKAKEB E TŦE ȽKÁLJ NIȽ E XIĆTEṈ NIȽ Ȼs EWENEs STOLU ŚW̱ TEȻÁN ȽTE E TŦE ȽḴÁLJ I TŦE SDÁĆEṈ.
NIȽ QENQIEN TŦE ȽḴÁLJ ȻE ḴELEL Es TŦE SȻÁĆEL ȻE ÍYSOT Es TŦE SȻÁĆEL NIȽ YEŦOŦTOṈE ĆEMTÁN Es I TÁĆEL TŦE SĆÁNEW̱ NIȽ ȻE ĆÁ ĆEOES ȽTE TŦE SX̱OLE.
OPEN I TŦE ȽIW̱ TŦE ȽḴÁLJ ȽTE TOE ŚW̱ JELÁN E TŦE SNÁ,s TŦE ȽḴÁLJ I ȻȽ TOLNEW̱ ȻE STÁṈ Es EȽ ȽḴÁLJ Es MEQ U XÁXE TŦE SNÁ,s TŦE ȽḴÁLJ U NIȽ OL U ḰEL ḰEL ȻE SX̱ENIEN Es SE TŦE SȻÁĆEL ȻE ĆENTÁN Es SE I TÁĆEL TŦE SĆÁNEW̱.
NIȽ ȻE ĆÁ, ḰEL ḰEL TIÁ PUC E TŦE SNÁs TŦE ȽḴÁLJ NIȽs TW̱Is TŦE SĆÁNEW̱ ĆEOUES TŦE ȽḴÁLJ I TŦE TELETOŦELṈEW̱ (First Voices.ca)
Though I missed our class discussion on this topic, I have thought a lot about how I would like to honour Indigenous ways of knowing in regards to time in the classroom. Here is an attempt at how I might try and frame a school year with respect to this land’s calendar and benchmarks. Thank you to First Voices for providing all the background images, research and context for each of these moons. Classroom voice is my own. (Lauren)
“The WSANEC moons of the Saltwater People (the Straits Salish People) are an excellent way to keep track of our year as a classroom community, though sometimes education departments make some odd decisions and start your school year right at the 5th last moon! How confusing! All good though, we’re good at being adaptive. It’s the CENQOLEW moon right now and the dog salmon are returning to the earth. Just like these salmon, the world is becoming red and orange to match the seafaring travelers. The creeks and rivers rise with the rising moisture, much like how our minds re-saturate with our school communities, with the anticipation of all the exciting new knowledge and stories coming our way. As the saltwater people preserve some foods, we ask you, dear students, what cherished moments from your summer moons will you treasure and preserve in your mind?
Once we’re settled into the red, no sooner does the next moon turn it all white. The earth gets frosty and settles into the ground, as we settle into our chairs and carpets, more situated in our community. The PEKELANEW moon turns our world white with frost, and the Saltwater people get cedar ready to make canoes in the winter. We pick our favourite reading nook, our favourite desk, our favourite tree to hang around at recess.
The WESELÁNEW moon brings the cold and rain, and this may also be when you feel rainy yourselves, students. What rain clouds nestle within you that the darker days may bring up in your chests? The Saltwater people made fires at this time to bring some warmth, how can we bring warmth to each other during this moon?
With the arrival of the SJELCASEN moon it only gets more temperamental in our environment, it is the season to put away your canoe paddles after all and steer clear of a sea far more dangerous and powerful than us. Perhaps we feel trapped on land, but there are little treasures to this short and indoor time, too. The Saltwater people use the time to dig for clams and weave and teach, so perhaps we should in turn find our own artistic outlets for what we have pondered in the moons prior. Best of all, let’s repair things we may have broken and preserve their lifespan- let’s mend clothes, and fix our toys and paint our furniture and keep our items special to us and away from the many landfills. I promise students to fill your days with stories and new books and new speakers and new pictures, the limited daylight we have is precious and our ability to get lost in stories extends it by years and decades and millennia.
It is fitting that we leave each other briefly during the SIS,ET moon, the moon that recognizes our elders. We go back to our homes and our families and dedicate many lost hours to re-centering our familial ties and relearning our family stories. Do any of your grandparents visit you during this moon when school is on pause? Do any aunts or uncles? Older siblings? The Saltwater people know how far we are from the sun during this time, and as such we need to find light in our homes. It’s okay if your home isn’t your house, by the way. Home is where your heart feels the lightness. Perhaps you’ll finish this moon with a big turkey, the Saltwater people will have duck, or maybe you’ll simply feel full with all the old-new stories you need to hear before you come back to us. Remember them well!
We return to each other, my lovely class, in the NINENE moon, a moon that focuses on you! The youth! Perhaps that’s why this time is always so exciting and refreshing. I feel refreshed by seeing all of you, and I’m sure most of you missed seeing your friends! We’ll even have the shortest day of the year and can begin to plan for more outdoor activities to come as each day we know we’ll get a little more light! What fieldtrips and forests and creeks and beaches do we want to see in the next few months?
We really get back into the swing of things in the WEXES moon, we’re used to each other, have reliable patterns and know what each other needs. We’re getting ready for bigger projects and bigger asks of ourselves. The frog moon fittingly is all about big expectation. The Salish collect roe and cedar boughs and wait for the animals to wake up. Which PNW animals are you most excited to see soon?
Now class we get to my personal favourite moon of the year, PEXSISEN. The Salish know that the moon’s hands have opened and blossoms are bursting out. How many wildflowers and plants can you see right now? Can you name any that seem neat to you? Camas, fireweed, fiddleheads, salal berries are ones I always look for. The Saltwater people know to look to the sea at this time because the shellfish are the best right now.
We’re nearing the end of our year together in these spring moons, SXÁNEL moon coming up quicker than I am ready for, we were just getting into it as a class it feels like!! This time is the easiest to see the bullhead’s belt in the stars (some of you may call it Orion’s belt depending on your own family traditions!) Try and get your parents to let you stay up one night and find it during this moon, but if they won’t budge, remember it’s also the best time to find amazing seaweed, wayyyy better than those costco square ones. Maybe that should be our next out trip! Or maybe we can dig for camas onions, with local permission, during the PENAWEN moon.
We’ve reached our last moon together (where did the time go???) as the CENTEKI moon of grey salmon takes over. It can feel dry and drab after such a colourful last two months. The Saltwater people remind us that they too once were stuck at this time, going hungry and poor until the Salmon people helped them learn to fish and honour the salmon they took for food. Remember that though you may feel burnt out and ready for a break, to appreciate all the strides you made with your colleagues this year, and be sure to show them thanks and love for the lessons they helped you learn. And don’t forget all the berries that are ripening now! You have so many amazing summer memories ahead of you in the moons we spend apart!
You will spend the CENHENEN and CENTÁWEN moons with your families, maybe here, maybe on other people’s territories, and I hope you enjoy your own discoveries during these moons. Thank you class for a wonderful year, “HÍSW̱ḴE“. We give thanks to each other, to the moons in which we learned, and to the beautiful WSANEC territory that brings so much life to all of us.”
My question going forward: How might we resist other forms of time rigidity in the classroom in recognition of the FPPL that “learning involves patience and time”?, particularly if we work in a school with administrative demands at odds with our own teaching philosophies.