To Indigenous people, the November full moon is known as the Beaver Moon. This was the time to set traps before the swamps froze to ensure a good supply of furs for the winter. That same moon this year was a beaver blood moon accompanied by a total lunar eclipse!  Traditionally, each full moon name was applied to the entire lunar month in which it occurred and through all of the Moon’s phases—not only the full Moon.

(Above) Bristol Land Trust President Ray Payson welcomex over twenty walkers to an event that took them down past the Cove Cabin at Mount Hope Farm to observe the rising of the Beaver Moon. The Farmers’ Almanac references the monthly full moons with names tied to early Native American, Colonial American, and European folklore. Click here for an 8-minute video of the walk.

(Above) Walkers stopped to take in a beautiful sunset over Mount Hope Bridge. This is the time of year when beavers begin to take shelter in their lodges, having laid up sufficient stores of food for the long winter ahead. During the time of the fur trade in North America, it was also the season to trap beavers for their thick, winter-ready pelts.

(Above) Walkers waited for about a half hour after sunset, and then a bright full moon rose. The Cree and Assiniboine peoples call November’s Moon the Frost Moon, the Anishinaabe peoples call it the Freezing Moon, and the Algonquin name is the Whitefish Moon, because this is the time of year when whitefish spawn.