Indian Summer
Hmm..I wonder where that name came about. All I know is that it is that it is synonymous with "glorious". I returned from my workout at Curves and the day was so beautiful! It was calling to me to come and bask in it's golden bliss. So I took a walking tour of the neighborhood and was fascinated with all the diversity of colors. Some of the trees have dropped all their leaves while others are blazing in gold, russet, orange, burgundy and green. Pumpkins are sitting on the front steps of many homes. It was all a joy to behold! The weather has just been so great this whole month, other than that freak snow storm that hit western and northern ND, we only got some slushy rain that day. My mums, geraniums and zinnias are still blooming. One doesn't even have to wear a jacket most days. I love autumn.
posted by Terri @ 10:44 AM
1 Comments:
At 3:17 AM,
Scott said…
"Indian Summer" (French "L'ete sauvage") is an interesting one. I know of three respected possible origins, but no one is sure what the real origin was.
(1) It could come from the "bogus" meaning of Indian . . . as in "Indian giver" or "Indian corn" (maize is a kind of corn, but not considered genuine in the 18th century when the term arose).
(2) The geographic area affected by Indian Summers was, at the time of the earliest uses of the word (1778 according to the OED), occupied by Indians. It's effects aren't as pronounced near the ocean. Western Europe, which is essentially a peninsula, does experience similar effects, but because it is rather far North and essentially a peninsula, it is often not as marked or at the same time of year. Still, in Britain it is called "Old Wives Summer" or "All Hallows Summer, and in France they have "été de la Saint-Martin. The point is, colonists moving into the land west of the Appalachians would have associated it with Indians rather than their homelands.
(3) It was the time of year in which American Indians usually harvested their crops.
The OED also lists some other possibilities that are less credible:
(3) "...a name which is derived from the natives, who believe that it is caused by a wind, which comes immediately from the court of their great and benevolent God Cautantowwit, or the south-western God." (1812 reference)
(4) "...because it afforded the Indians with another opportunity of visiting the settlements with their destructive warfare." (1817)
Interestingly, Ukraine and southern Russia are far enough inland and at the right latitude to experience a similar phenomenon. In Ukraine, it's called, "Baba Leta" or "Grandmother Summer" because it is the old age of the season. It's a much less racially charged term.
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