NIPMUC CALENDER

In Native American Traditions, the sky is their calendar and they tell the
seasons by the moons.

      1.
     (January) Freezing Moon ~ Moon of Storytelling
      2.  (February) Squocheekeeswuch, Moon of First Thaw
      3.  (March) Sugaring Moon, Maple Thanksgiving
      4.  (April) Wunnequemilkum, Melting Moon
      5.  (May) Nahmoskeewush, Fishing Moon
      6.  (June) Sesquannakeeswush, New Year
      7.  (June 20) Wuttahminekeeswush, Strawberry Moon,
      Summer Solstice
      8.  (July) Burning Moon, Shellfish Gathering
      9.  (August) Green Corn Moon, Green Bean Thanksgiving
      10.  (September) Cranberry Moon, Ripe Corn Moon
      11.  (October) Harvest Moon, Nut Gathering
      12.  (November) Hunting Moon, Nut Gathering
      13.  (December) Nikkomo, Time of Sharing


Nipmuc Indians / Native Americans
The Nipmuc tribes were living across most of Massachusetts when the pilgrims
landed at Plymouth Rock on Dec. 26, 1620. The Wampanoags were the coastal
tribe who helped the pilgrims get a foothold - but the Nipmucs came in
relatively quickly to open friendly trade relations.

The religious fervor of the pilgrims worked quickly - by 1674 they had
already set up numerous "praying towns" across Massachusetts where they
helped re-educate the natives in the ways of Christianity.

The first praying town set up was Natick. The second was Hassanamesit,
located in what is now Grafton. This town was exactly in the center of two
primary Native American pathways. The Nipmuc name means "place of small
stones". On the map below, the green dots are the praying town locations,
and the light green lines are the main Indian pathways.



In 1704, the land grant that was made to a group of settlers for "Sutton"
explicitly was set to contain the Hassanamesit praying town. As the years
went by, parts of that original grant were "broken off" to form other towns.

Hassanamesit is now a 2.5 acre Nipmuc reservation, and every summer it is
the location of a Nipmuc public powwow.