Moon Medicine: May 1, 2026

May 1, 2026

Tonight, as spring reaches its fullness, the fifth full moon of 2026 rises over fields ready for seed. The May full moon reaches its peak illumination on Thursday, May 1st at 1:23 p.m. EST, blessing the earth at the height of the planting season. Among Cherokee peoples, this moon is known as ᎠᏂᏍᎫᏘ or Anisguti — the Planting Moon (ᏅᏓ ᎦᏢᏍᎦ, "Nv-da Ga-hlv-sga," literally "Putting it in a hole moon"), marking the sacred time when "families traditionally prepare the fields and sow them with the stored seeds from last season" (Southern Cherokee Nation of Kentucky, 2023; Wikipedia, Cherokee Calendar, 2023). This is when corn, beans, squashes, tomatoes, potatoes, yams, and sunflowers go into the earth, and when the traditional Corn Dance was performed to ensure a fruitful harvest.

At Good Medicine Collective, we understand that each moon carries teachings essential to living in balance with the seasons. While January's Wind Moon taught us endurance, February's Bony Moon honored scarcity, March's Windy Moon called us to preparation, and April's Flower Moon celebrated emergence, May's Planting Moon asks us to engage in the sacred work of sowing — to place seeds in the earth with intention, to trust in cycles of growth, and to remember that food sovereignty is cultural sovereignty.

Fact Check: "Flower Moon" and Indigenous Moon Names

This full moon is commonly called the Flower Moon due to the abundance of blooming flowers in May.

This is Partially Accurate but Requires Context.

The name "Flower Moon" is frequently attributed to this moon in popular culture, and while May certainly brings abundant flowers, many Indigenous nations focus on a different aspect of this season — planting. As Winona LaDuke (Anishinaabe) writes in her foreword to Indigenous Food Sovereignty in the United States, "our foods are who we are," and the act of planting traditional seeds is an act of cultural survival and resistance (LaDuke in Mihesuah & Hoover, 2019, p. xiv). For agricultural peoples, May is defined not by what is blooming but by what is being planted — the sacred work of ensuring survival through the coming seasons.

Indigenous moon names for May reflect this agricultural focus across many Nations:

In Cherokee tradition, this moon is ᎠᏂᏍᎫᏘ or Anisguti, the "Planting Moon" (literally "Putting it in a hole moon"). Families prepare fields and sow stored seeds from last season — corn, beans, squashes, tomatoes, potatoes, yams, and sunflowers. The traditional Corn Dance was performed during this moon to encourage a fruitful harvest (Southern Cherokee Nation of Kentucky, 2023; Wikipedia, Cherokee Calendar, 2023).
The Algonquin peoples call this the Corn Planting Moon, recognizing this as the optimal time to plant corn and other crops saved from the previous year's harvest (Old Farmer's Almanac, 2026).
The Abenaki name this the Field Maker Moon, while the Haida call it the Food Gathering Moon(MoonGiant.com, 2026).
The Lakota and Apache recognize this as the Green Leaves Moon, and the Mohawk call it the Big Leaf Moon.

As Devon A. Mihesuah (Choctaw) and Elizabeth Hoover write in their comprehensive study of Indigenous food sovereignty, traditional agricultural practices represent "the intersection of culture, identity, health, and sovereignty" (Mihesuah & Hoover, 2019, p. 3). These moon names are not merely agricultural calendars but encode thousands of years of careful observation about when to plant specific crops for optimal survival in particular ecosystems.

Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer emphasizes that Indigenous agricultural knowledge represents a sophisticated understanding of reciprocity: "In some Native languages the term for plants translates to 'those who take care of us'" (Kimmerer, 2013, p. 125). When we plant during the Planting Moon, we are not imposing ourselves upon the earth but entering into relationship with it.

Fact Check: May's Moon — Regular Full Moon in a Rare Month

Tonight's moon is a regular full moon, and May 2026 will feature two full moons.

Fact. May 2026 is unusual in that it contains two full moons — one on May 1st and another on May 31st. The second full moon of the month is traditionally called a "Blue Moon," though this has nothing to do with the moon's actual color (Time and Date, 2026). The May 1st moon occurs at an average distance from Earth — neither a supermoon nor a micromoon.

There is profound teaching in this rarity. Two full moons in one planting season remind us of abundance, of cycles within cycles, of the generosity of the earth when we work in partnership with her. As Winona LaDuke teaches, "seeds are about hope, promise, commitment, the future" (LaDuke in Mihesuah & Hoover, 2019, p. xvii). When we have two opportunities to witness the full moon during planting season, we are reminded to stay attentive, to remain in relationship, to honor every phase of growth.

OUR MEDICINE: ART AND INTENTION UNDER THE PLANTING MOON

This moon's teaching is about the sacred work of sowing, about food sovereignty as an act of cultural resistance, and about trusting that what we plant today will nourish us tomorrow. The Planting Moon asks: What are you planting — literally and metaphorically? What seeds of culture, knowledge, or practice are you ensuring will continue? How can you participate in food sovereignty in your own context?

The Sacred Act of Planting Seeds

Traditionally, the Planting Moon was when Cherokee families prepared fields and planted corn, beans, squashes, tomatoes, potatoes, yams, and sunflowers with seeds saved from the previous harvest. This practice represents what Winona LaDuke calls "returning to our original instructions" — the understanding that growing food is a sacred responsibility (LaDuke, 2016).

If you have access to land, plant a garden this month. If you save seeds from heirloom or traditional varieties, you participate in what Rowen White (Mohawk) calls "sacred seed sovereignty" — the practice of maintaining seed diversity as cultural practice and climate adaptation strategy (White in Mihesuah & Hoover, 2019, p. 127). LaDuke's work demonstrates that traditional seed varieties, bred over thousands of years, are more resilient to climate change than industrial monoculture crops. She notes that Indigenous peoples developed approximately 8,000 varieties of corn alone, adapted to wildly different growing conditions from northern Manitoba to the American Southwest (LaDuke, 2020).

If you cannot plant outdoors, grow herbs in pots. Join a community garden. Support Indigenous farmers and seed keepers. As Kyle Powys Whyte (Citizen Potawatomi Nation) writes, "Indigenous food sovereignty is about collective continuance" — ensuring that food systems, cultural practices, and community relationships continue across generations (Whyte in Mihesuah & Hoover, 2019, p. 18).

Learning and Honoring the Corn Dance

In Cherokee tradition, the Corn Dance was performed during the Planting Moon to encourage a fruitful harvest. While we cannot share ceremonial details and ask non-Cherokee people not to appropriate this practice, we can all learn about the sacred relationship between Indigenous peoples and corn.

Corn is not merely food — it is a relative, a teacher, a gift from the Creator. As Mihesuah writes, corn is central to Cherokee identity and was traditionally understood as being given to the people by Selu, First Woman (Mihesuah, 2019, p. 89). When Winona LaDuke's father told her, "I don't want to hear your philosophy if you cannot grow corn," he was teaching her that intellectual knowledge without practical relationship to land and food is incomplete (LaDuke in Mihesuah & Hoover, 2019, p. xi).

This month, learn about corn. If you are Cherokee or from another corn-growing culture, consider growing traditional varieties. If you are not, learn about the Indigenous agricultural history of where you live. Support organizations working for Indigenous food sovereignty, such as the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance, Honor the Earth, or the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative.

A Planting Moon Observance: Blessing the Seeds

Whether you are planting a garden or a single pot of herbs, take time to bless your seeds before planting them. Hold them in your hands. Speak to them about what you hope will grow. Thank them for the nourishment they will provide. As Kimmerer teaches, this is not metaphor but relationship — seeds respond to our attention and intention (Kimmerer, 2013, p. 183).

If you are planting metaphorical seeds — projects, relationships, creative works — write them on slips of paper and place them in a pot of soil with a seed or bulb. As the plant grows, so too will your intentions take root.

As Melissa K. Nelson (Anishinaabe) and Daniel Shilling write, Indigenous agricultural practices teach us that "sustainability is not just about ecological practices but about maintaining cultural identity, spiritual connection, and community relationships" (Nelson & Shilling, 2018, p. 86). When we plant with intention, we participate in these ancient relationships.

Tonight, We Encourage You To:

Learn the original moon name for the land you are on, if possible from a direct knowledge keeper or trusted source from that nation. May's moon carries many names, each reflecting specific agricultural traditions and relationships with the land.
Plant something. Even if it's a single herb in a pot, participate in the act of growing food. As LaDuke teaches, "if we are unable to feed ourselves, we will not survive" (LaDuke in Mihesuah & Hoover, 2019, p. xvii). Food sovereignty begins with a single seed.
Support Indigenous food sovereignty. Buy from Native farmers. Support seed rematriation projects. Learn about and advocate for Indigenous land rights and treaty obligations. As Elizabeth Hoover writes, "You can't say you're sovereign if you can't feed yourself" (Hoover in Mihesuah & Hoover, 2019, p. 37). Food sovereignty and political sovereignty are inseparable.
Save seeds. If you garden, save seeds from your harvest to plant next year. If you don't garden, support seed libraries or organizations like Native Seeds/SEARCH that preserve traditional crop varieties. As White writes, seed saving is an act of "cultural continuance and adaptation" (White in Mihesuah & Hoover, 2019, p. 133).
Learn about the Three Sisters. Corn, beans, and squash — traditionally planted together by many Indigenous nations — represent both agricultural wisdom and a model for reciprocal relationships. Corn provides a structure for beans to climb, beans fix nitrogen in the soil, and squash leaves shade the ground to retain moisture and discourage weeds. This is what Kimmerer calls "the genius of the Three Sisters partnership" — a model for how we might live in reciprocity with all our relatives (Kimmerer, 2013, p. 128).

WE SHARE THESE TEACHINGS FROM A PLACE OF ᎤᏚᎯᏲ (U-DU-HI-YO), A GOOD MIND

These are general cultural principles shared from published and oral sources. The deepest ceremonial knowledge of Cherokee planting practices and the Corn Dance belongs to specific Cherokee ceremonial leaders and is not for public discussion.

If you are not Cherokee, we ask you to appreciate, not appropriate. Learn from the framework of food sovereignty and relationship with corn and other crops, but do not perform the Corn Dance or claim Cherokee agricultural practices as your own. As Mihesuah powerfully articulates, "cultural appropriation of Indigenous foodways without acknowledgment or compensation is another form of colonization" (Mihesuah, 2019, p. 12).

We encourage everyone to: Plant seeds this month if you are able. Learn about the Indigenous agricultural history of your region. Support Indigenous food growers and seed keepers. Understand that food sovereignty is a matter of justice, survival, and cultural continuance.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

The Planting Moon teaches us that survival is an act of hope, that putting seeds in the ground is an act of faith in the future, and that food sovereignty is inseparable from cultural sovereignty. Our Cherokee ancestors understood that planting was not merely agricultural work but sacred ceremony — a way of maintaining relationship with Selu (First Woman/Corn Mother), with the earth, and with future generations.

As Winona LaDuke writes, "Food sovereignty is an affirmation of who we are as Indigenous peoples, and a way, one of the most sure-footed ways, to restore our relationship with the world around us" (LaDuke in Mihesuah & Hoover, 2019, p. xiv). At Good Medicine Collective, we honor this truth through every piece we create and every relationship we build. When you support Indigenous artists, you support cultural continuance. When you learn about food sovereignty, you participate in decolonization. When you plant seeds, you practice hope.

May this Planting Moon teach us that every seed contains not just a plant, but a promise. May we have the courage to plant even when we cannot see the harvest. May we remember that Indigenous peoples have been feeding themselves and their communities for millennia, and that this knowledge is crucial for all our futures in a time of climate crisis.

Let us move through this planting season with ᏄᏓᎴᏒ (nu-da-le-sv), balance, carrying the medicine of sacred agriculture and the ancient knowledge that seeds are teachers, corn is a relative, and food sovereignty is cultural survival.

We invite you to continue walking this path with us. Support the artists and seed keepers whose hands carry forward ancestral knowledge. Learn the agricultural wisdom that sustained communities through countless seasons. Build relationships grounded in reciprocity, respect, and the understanding that we all depend on the earth's generosity.

WANT TO SUPPORT OUR MISSION?

Your partnership makes this all possible.

For Our Supporters & Community:

→ Shop our products! Bring a piece of authentic Indigenous spirit into your home and directly support an artist.

→ Follow Our Journey. Join our family on Instagram @goodmedicine.collective for artist features, stories, and behind-the-scenes looks at what we are up to!

Indigenous Artists:
→ Let's Partner Up! Remember, applications for the Good Medicine Collective Artist Roster are accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis. Whether you are seeking visibility, connection, or consideration for paid opportunities, we want to include you. Learn more here. ꩜

We look forward to growing with you. ☻

REFERENCES & FURTHER READING:

Benton-Banai, E. (1988). The Mishomis Book: The Voice of the Ojibway. University of Minnesota Press.

Buechel, E., & Manhart, P. J. (Eds.). (2002). Lakota Dictionary: Lakota-English / English-Lakota. University of Nebraska Press.

Center for Native American Studies. (2023). Moons of the Anishinaabeg. Northern Michigan University. https://nmu.edu/nativeamericanstudies/moons-anishinaabeg-0

Cook, W. H. (ed.). (1979). Cherokee Language Lessons. Cherokee Publications.

Gilio-Whitaker, D. (2019). As Long as Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock. Beacon Press.

Gordon, H. S. J., Ross, J. A., Bauer-Armstrong, C., Moreno, M., Byington, R., & Bowman, N. (2022). Integrating Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge of land into land management through Indigenous-academic partnerships. Land Use Policy, 125, 106478. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2022.106478

Jacobs, L. A. (Ed.). (2024). Indigenous Critical Reflections on Traditional Ecological Knowledge. Oregon State University Press.

Kimmerer, R. W. (2013). Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. Milkweed Editions.

LaDuke, W. (2016). Winona LaDuke speaks her mind in Suquamish. Kitsap Daily News. Retrieved from https://www.kitsapdailynews.com/news/winona-laduke-speaks-her-mind-in-suquamish/

LaDuke, W. (2019). In Praise of Seeds and Hope [Foreword]. In D. A. Mihesuah & E. Hoover (Eds.), Indigenous Food Sovereignty in the United States: Restoring Cultural Knowledge, Protecting Environments, and Regaining Health (pp. xi-xvii). University of Oklahoma Press.

LaDuke, W. (2020). Building Indigenous Food Sovereignty in 14 First Nations in Northern Superior region. Anishinabek News. Retrieved from https://anishinabeknews.ca/2020/09/25/building-indigenous-food-sovereignty-in-14-first-nations-in-northern-superior-region/

Legaufee, E. (2021). Patterns of Kinship: Beadwork, Narrative, and Métis Visual Sovereignty. Journal of Indigenous Arts & Sciences, 8(2).

Mihesuah, D. A., & Hoover, E. (Eds.). (2019). Indigenous Food Sovereignty in the United States: Restoring Cultural Knowledge, Protecting Environments, and Regaining Health. University of Oklahoma Press.

MoonGiant.com. (2026). Full Moon (May 1, 2026). Retrieved from https://www.moongiant.com/moonphases/May/2026/

Mooney, J. (1900). Myths of the Cherokee. Nineteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology.

Mooney, J. (1891). The Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees. Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology.

NASA. (2026). Phases of the Moon: 2026. NASA Science.

Nelson, M. K., & Shilling, D. (Eds.). (2018). Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Learning from Indigenous Practices for Environmental Sustainability. Cambridge University Press.

Old Farmer's Almanac. (2026). Full Moon Names for 2026. Retrieved from https://www.almanac.com/full-moon-names

Personal Communications & Teachings from Cherokee elders and language instructors at the Cherokee Nation Cultural Resource Center.

Simpson, L. B. (2017). As We Have Always Done: Indigenous Freedom Through Radical Resistance. University of Minnesota Press.

Southern Cherokee Nation of Kentucky. (2023). Cherokee Moons. Retrieved from https://southerncherokeenationky.com/cherokee-moons/

Time and Date. (2026). Blue Moon in 2026. Retrieved from https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/blue-moon.html

Vowel, C. (2016). Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Métis & Inuit Issues in Canada. Portage & Main Press.

White, R. (2019). Planting sacred seeds in a modern world: Restoring Indigenous seed sovereignty. In D. A. Mihesuah & E. Hoover (Eds.), Indigenous Food Sovereignty in the United States (pp. 127-140). University of Oklahoma Press.

Whyte, K. P. (2019). Indigenous climate justice and food sovereignty: Food, climate, continuance. In D. A. Mihesuah & E. Hoover (Eds.), Indigenous Food Sovereignty in the United States (pp. 17-31). University of Oklahoma Press.

Wikipedia. (2023). Cherokee calendar. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherokee_calendar

Back to blog