PEXSISEṈ

As stated in The Saanich Year...

Just as our people open their hands upwards to show thanks, the plants and flowers bud and open their leaves to the world. Literally translated PEXSISEṈ would give the image of a closed hand opening slowly. This refers to all the buds blooming as the gentle north breeze brought more sunshine.

Weather
Not only is there less rain but warmer weather which helps dry the land. This also enables better drying and preservation of food.

Economic Activities

• It was during this moon that our people hunted and dried XELCELJ (Brant Geese) for future use. Float nets were used where the XELXELJ would feed along the tide line.

• Clams, oysters and mussels are at their best this time of year.

• This was the best time of year to fall cedar logs for boat building and other uses. The warmer weather also caused the tree sap to run which made it easier to strip the cedar bark. The trees were then left to cure and the bark saved for wearing mats and clothing.

• Before our people started raising sheep they would use both goat and dog hair for spinning yarn and knitting. We had our own breed of a small, white wooly dog which was our source of wool. The warm weather also caused the dogs to shed and their hair could be gathered and stored for carding and knitting later.

• Women travelled within our traditional territories to collect new shoots of blackberry, thimbleberry and salmonberry. The camas and wild carrot were beginning to bloom.

• Bottom Fish like halibut and cod were caught now. The tide was good for collecting clams, oysters and mussels.