SX̱ÁNEȽ

As stated in The Saanich Year...

In this moon, the PIOTEL (a group of three stars - called the Duck Hunters) appears on the horizon. During the SX̱ÁNEȽ there is a big wind and, thereafter, the big bullheads appear on the shore and the swallows arrive.

Weather: This is the season where good weather is the norm and these warm days can bring sudden thunder and lightning storms.

Economic Activities:

• Our people would now spend more time on and around the water. During the moon the elder ladies knew to take their baskets to the beach and gather bullheads from under the rocks. The ladies would poke sticks under the rocks and the big bullheads would say “SKA,” which is its name. The bullhead is a great delicacy.

• This is also a time for harvesting seaweed (LEWKES).

• The halibut spawn during this moon and the halibut fishery ends but on land the grouse have hatched and the almost full grown grouse could be snared in the woods.

This woman is collecting mussels where they grow in great abundance - a rocky beach at low tide. The collecting baskets are made from split cedar root and loosely woven especially for collecting beach foods like mussels, clams, bullheads, and seaweed.