Did You Know 
No Comments Indian Summer- What is it?
Indian Summer is a term that refers to nice temperate weather during Autumn / Fall which is abnormal for the season. The fall colors here in Wisconsin isn’t as beautiful like two years ago. This is when we enjoy 60-80 degree temperatures outside on nice and bright sunny days when the normal would be in the 50’s and starting to really get chilly. The leaves are changing colors and it is all around a beautiful time to enjoy the warmth while it lasts for one last time. But today, it’s pretty cold outside and the temp went down to 30 Fahrenheit. Brrrr…
Where does the term originate? That is much more difficult to explain. First, Indian Summer does not refer to the country of India where true Indians live. It has its origins from the Native American population who were mistakenly labeled Indians because the first Europeans wanted to and thought they got to India. It would be about the same as calling a Filipino a Japanese person all because the traveler screwed up on what island they landed on.
So Indian is not really mean Indian and summer does not really mean summer. It just seems like the same temperature as summer. The term was made by Europeans who had settled here and was more of an insult than a good description. But for whatever reason the name stuck.
At the same time, there are some Native American groups that will refer to themselves as American Indians to maximize a profit off of the incorrect Indian label that seems to have stuck here. What I have learned in my years here in the USA is nothing is really all that simple and most everything contains many different meanings depending on what part of the country you are in.
Live well,
Anah
