Indian Summer
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There seems to be little disagreement on what "Indian Summer" means- a warm spell that occurs in the Fall after the first frost. But where does the term come from?

Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton and this is The Weather Notebook.

The term "Indian Summer" may derive from the insecurities and fears that white settlers harbored toward native peoples in the autumn. Correspondent Jessica Lockhart reports.

Some believe the word "Indian" was used to denote something cheap or false like "Indian Giver". Another theory of how the term came about was in reference to cargo ship loads on the Indian Ocean in the summer. Joseph Conforti, Professor of American and New England Studies at the University of Southern Maine describes yet another theory proposed by noted writer Daniel Boorstin.

"it has to do with the fear of an Indian attack on the part of the Colonists, they were the ones who came up with the term Indian summer. The Indians of early New England were semi-nomadic they moved seasonally, in the Fall they moved away from the coast which was their summer home and into protected valleys or other locations inland.

This time of year brought a lull in the conflict between the Colonists and the Indians, unless the weather became unseasonably warm. Conforti says the term came about to describe the weather that made more raids possible.

"it would be coined during times of insecurity and hostility it would summarize the fear that the good weather might provide an occasion for the Native Americans to launch an attack before they settled down for the winter"

For more insight into unusual history check out Conforti's new book, "Imagining New England".

Thanks today to Jessica Lockart of Portland, Maine. The Weather Notebook is a production of the Mount Washington Observatory and is underwritten by Subaru.