The Moon Time

The women are honoured and respected for the gift they have been given as life givers. Women must keep themselves of good mind, body, and spirit at all times. There is a natural cleansing cycle that occurs for women each month that helps them stay healthy. Some people call this the menstrual cycle, the period, or the menses.

Very often amongst the Aboriginal people you will hear of a time called " the moon time". The name is understood to be symbolic of the grandmother moon that travels the sky at night. The moon is honoured by the women in different ways and as she becomes full once a month so do women. This is a time when the blood flows from a woman and she is considered to be at her greatest strength. It is a time for women to stay quiet, to think, and to meditate about who they are as women. This is also a time when the women should be looked after and cared for. Women are powerful during this time and, out of respect for that power, they do not attend ceremonies, feasts, and Pow-wows where sacred items such as drums, outfits, feathers, eagle whistles, rattles, and pipes will be present. In this same manner the women do not wear their outfits to dance in the circle of life at the Pow-wow.