JACKSON, Wyo. — The April full moon is rising tonight. The moon will reach its fullest point at 5:48 p.m. on Tuesday, April 23, and with a chance of clear skies, hopefully, it will be big and bright over the Jackson Hole valley.
While April’s full moon is referred to as the Pink Moon, the name has nothing to do with the color of the moon. The full moon corresponds with the early springtime blooms of the wildflower, Phlox subulata, native to eastern North America. Also called the creeping phlox or moss phlox, the plant blooms vibrantly pink.
Other historical names for April’s full moon speak to the changing of seasons spring brings.
The Anishnabe call April’s full moon “the Breaking Ice Moon” and the Isanti people call the full moon “the Moon When the Streams Are Again Navigable,” both references to the melting ice and increased mobility of the early spring season.
The Tlingit people call April’s full moon the “Budding Moon of Plants and Shrubs” and the Oglala call it “the Moon of the Red Grass Appearing,” which speaks to the plant growth that will soon kick into high gear with the coming spring.
Some names for the full moon refer to the reappearance of certain animals, including “Moon When the Ducks Come Back” (Lakota), “Moon When the Geese Lay Eggs” (Dakota), and “Frog Moon” (Iyiniwok).
The Anishinaabeg call April’s full moon “the Sucker Moon” because it is the time to harvest sucker fish, which return to streams or lake shallows to spawn. According to legend, now is the time when this fish comes back from the spirit world to purify bodies of water and the creatures living in them. This name has also been applied to the February Moon, to honor the sacrifice of the sucker fish in order to feed the Anishinaabeg peoples, traditionally helping them to survive the winter.
Classic rock fans might associate this full moon with Nick Drake’s album and title track “Pink Moon,” a 1972 cult hit that exploded after being featured in a Volkswagen commercial in the late 1990s.
