Feb 20 2019

January, Month of the cold moon.

This time of the season is a time for personal and ritual observance, fasting, and personal purification. During this season, families prepare for the coming of the new seasons, starting in the Windy Moon Anuyi or March. Personal items and tools for planting are repaired, and new ones made. Stories about ancestors and the family are imparted to the younger ones by the elders. A mid winter or "Cold Moon Dance" is usually held in the community as well, marking the passing or ending of one cycle of seasons and welcoming the beginning of the new cycle.

Words of Chief Man Many Trees
Overhill Cherokee History and Traditions