Historically, names for the full or new Moons were used to track the seasons. Today, we think of Moon names as “nicknames” for the Moon.
The early Native Americans did not record time using the Julian or Gregorian calendar months. Many tribes kept track of time by observing the seasons and lunar months, although there was much variability. For some tribes, the year contained 4 seasons and started at a particular season, such as spring or fall. Others counted 5 seasons to a year. Some tribes defined a year as 12 Moons, while others assigned it 13. Certain tribes that used the lunar calendar added an extra Moon every few years to keep it in sync with the seasons.
