Feb. 1 marks Apuknajit, which is 'like the Mi'kmaw version of Groundhog Day'

In Mi'kmaw culture, Feb. 1 marks Apuknajit, a time of year when communities gather to share food to make it through the hardest month of the year.

There's also a food offering in the hopes of a shorter winter.

CBC Radio's Mainstreet spoke with Gerald Gloade of the Mi'kmawey Debert Cultural Centre to learn more about Apuknajit. His interview with host Preston Mulligan has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Tell us a bit more about the significance of this particular day and its significance to Mi'kmaw traditions.

The Mi'kmaq celebrate this day and offer a feast to the god of winter, hopefully to appease him and give us a shorter winter and an earlier spring, so it's sort of like the Mi'kmaw version of Groundhog Day.

Different communities here in the province celebrate it on different days. Here in our community [Millbrook], we celebrate it on the first day of February, which is the second month of the year.

But then you've got the old school ones up in Cape Breton, they actually celebrate it on Jan. 29 because in the old Mi'kmaw calendar of 13 months, each month is based on a moon cycle, the 13 times the moon goes around the Earth as the Earth goes around to the sun. The first day of the second month would be 29 days after the first of January.

And in Mi'kmaq, Apuknajit is the name of this month and it's named after the god of winter because it is our hardest and harshest time of year. Some of our heaviest snowfalls fall during this period.

What does modern Apuknajit look like in Mi'kmaw communities these days?

He is a Mi'kmuesu (sorceror), he is a giant, just as Glooscap was and very strong and equal in powers. In fact, we have one legend that speaks of Glooscap having a battle with the god of winter, and he lost. And it was winter here year-round.

If someone wanted to take part in Apuknajit, what do you do?

All you have to do is set an extra setting at your table and leave it outside for the god of winter. He's a Mi'kmuesu (sorceror), he's a wizard and a shapeshifter. He will come as some different form to claim that food. Talking to a few different people in the community, they're saying that this year he came twice. First time, he came as a chickadee. The second time, he came as a blue jay.

How do you know whether the offering has been accepted?

We'll find out when the weather gets a little better.

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