We've had a gorgeous fall, which is prompting people to write articles about Indian summer, such as this one by Mary Schmich. I wondered about this account of the origin of Indian summer:

quote:

"The term may have come into use because of gatherings of settlers and Native Americans after the autumn harvest in which the bounty of the year's harvest was shared, often in periods of warm weather that were among the last of the fast-fading warm season."

Does anyone know any more?

quote:

Does anyone know any more?

Nope.

This seems to support that view. However, I am so used to these types of stories being debunked (like the numbers of words for "snow") so I am not sure.

I had always loved the Chicago Tribune's "Injun Summer" images and story that was first printed in 1907 and continued each fall until 1992, ending because of...you guessed it...political correctness. Here is an article about it.

Wikipedia has an article, including a section on the etymology.

Interesting because there are some competing explanations.