My wife, since before she was my wife and for as long as I can remember, had been keeping track of her wild foraging and canning projects by noting the year and the Moon phase in the Penobscot language. When she first started doing it, it was a small and personal way for her to keep in touch and engage with her culture and with the changing seasons… and it still is.

It also became one of the first ways I was introduced to her culture. Through these Moon names hand written on jars of preserved goods. Through these Moon names written on bundles of both wild and urban foraged herbs.

If you know me and my family, a gift of jam may also have been how you were introduced to the Penobscot language. Perhaps you saw these words and even tasted and heard the story of the batch that won Best in Show at the 2024 NW Tribal Food Sovereignty Coalition’s Traditional Foods Fair.

But what is the current name of the Moon?

The Penobscot calendar is a lunisolar calendar meaning it’s a combination of lunar cycles (ie from new Moon to new Moon) and Sun rotations (ie Earth rotating around the Sun).

This makes for typically 12 lunar months in a year, with an additional 13th lunar month added every 2-3 years.

While this may seem pretty confusing for those used to the Gregorian Calendar (ie a solar calendar), it’s really not that bad. After all, the Gregorian Calendar widely used today isn’t perfect. For example: 28, 29, 30, 31 given days a month? What’s the deal with Leap years? Oh, and those religious holidays… ever wonder why Easter is always on some random day? (It’s because its date is determined based on the lunar calendar!)

The Penobscot calendar, being a lunisolar calendar is easier in some ways. The longest, darkest, moonless night of the year signals the start of a new year. Every new Moon is a new lunar month of 29.5~ days. If you’ve gone 12 lunar cycles but didn’t quite make it to the longest night of the year yet, you get a 13th month.

Easy right? Maybe. But also hard.

So what is the current name of the Moon?

This is the question. And I know the answer.

Since we humans first looked up into sky, we noticed the Sun and the Moon. We counted the days and we counted the time between Moon phases, and we looked around and noticed as seasons changed and the days and nights lengthened and shortened. We also noticed when the animals changed their behavior and when they mated and when they migrated. We watched plants grow from seed, bear fruit, and die. We learned when to plant and when to harvest.

Penobscots noticed and recorded their observations into the names of things. I can’t tell their story of naming as well as they but I do know the names of the Moon. So let me tell you that story.

How I learned the names of the Moon:

One day, not long ago, I found my wife sitting at our kitchen table. In front of her spread about the table were about a dozen or so jars that she was in mid process of labeling but the project had stalled for some reason. In fact, she was very clearly not labeling them at all. The permanent marker was set aside for the moment and the labels were haphazardly pushed to the far end of the table. Instead she was just sitting there looking increasingly frustrated practically glaring at her cellphone at something I couldn’t quite see.

“Hey. Is everything okay?”, I ask.

“It’s these moons again!”, she replied, furrowing her brow. “I’m not sure it’s the correct one and I need to know.”

“Oh? Is there anything I can do to help?”

She looks up at me, considering the question. “I’m not sure exactly. Unless…”.

She knows the answer before she even asks so it’s asked playfully “… do you happen to know the current name of the Moon in Penobscot?”

“No, sorry. Not off the top of my head”, I replied sheepishly.

I hated saying no to her. I was a fixer, a builder, a thinker of ideas, sometimes even good ideas! And… And I… I was a nerd.

“I could make an app?” It wasn’t a question but it was asked as a question. I could make an app.

“If you wanted”, I added, flashing a toothy grin.

“Um, yes please!”

The Penobscot Names of the Moon App

So I got to work, a few interruptions here and there but it is almost done.

The Penobscot Names of the Moon app or Penobscot Moon for short will be a utility app that at its core will give you the current, future, or historical name of the Moon in both Penobscot and English for a given date.

Additionally, using the Penobscot Moon app, a user will be able to print a customizable label sheet which is perfect for home canning projects or whatever else a they may need a label for.

The app will work without an internet connection once installed, so you can be off-grid and still know the name of the Moon.

Parting words…

So now you heard the story and soon you too can know the names of the Moon.

As this app was built as a gift for my wife, it is important to me that it always be free to use, and so it is a gift for all. My hope is that others will use it and weave it into their own gifts, whatever they may be.

Thank you.