Kikas: Field Maker Moon

The fifth month of the Abenaki annual cycle – Kikas – is appearing now. The darkness of the new moon following Sogalikas (the fourth month) is with us tonight on April 20, 2023, here in Sokwakik. In Western Abenaki, Kikas means “field maker moon.” It is pronounced kee-KAHS. The word is formed polysynthetically with the combination of  the morphemes ki(k) (earth or field or planting) + as (maker), and moon by inference. The full moon (who bestows her name upon the month) will show her shining face on May 5th.

Around 1645, trader William Pynchon at his Agawam trading post (near what is now Springfield, Massachusetts), a little further down the Kwenitekw from Sokwakik, recorded this month as Squannikesos. From Day, this appears as the Abenaki phrase for Spring Moon, as Sigwanikizos: sigwan (spring) + i (connector) + kizos (full moon). This is another way to denote planting time.

It is important to keep in mind that diverse terms may have been or are used by sundry peoples at various times for similar designations. These distinctions are not hard and fast boundaries; the lunar cycle shifts each year, as do cultural activities with the seasons and in response to the immediate weather patterns. For instance, the month at or preceding the current one (roughly May) according to Pynchon’s list is Namasakizos – “the fish moon” – from namasa (fish) + kizos (full moon). This was, of course, in direct reference to the abundant migration of anadromous fish coming up the River to spawn: shad, salmon, sturgeon, lamprey, and herring. This was a time for gratitude and celebration, both on the land and in the waters, and could be happening at about the same time as planting.

And thus we welcome Sigwan, Spring, the bursting forth…