Nokkahigas: The Hoer Moon

The sixth moon of the Abenaki lunar calendar is the Hoer Moon, following the planting moon (fifth moon) of Kikas, the Field Maker Moon. This is the time when the new sprouts of the year’s planting appreciate some nurturing care, amid the competition of their warming rush toward the sun. The month began in this sun cycle with the new moon on May 19, 2023, and we are just beyond the full moon which shone last night on June 3rd, and gives us its name as Nokkahigas, The Hoer.

The word derives from the interrelationship of several root morphemes: nok- meaning “soft” with -ka to signify “soft ground or land” as with hoed or cultivated earth, and -higas, an extension denoting “one who does”. Another name for this moon is the Strawberry Moon, in appreciation for the delicious earthly gift of the season: it is called Mskikoikas, after the Abenaki name for the strawberry itself, mskikoimens, “the little grass berry.”

And so we enter into Niben, the bountiful season of summer…