Indian summer is a name given to a period of sunny, warm weather just before winter in northern North America. This time is usually in late October or early November sometime after the first frost. It can persist for just a few days or sometimes over a week.
The term is also used metaphorically to refer to anything that blooms late, or unexpectedly, or after is has been assumed to be no longer interesting or relevant. For example: "The team experienced an Indian summer, winning the series after losing the first six games". Compare this usage to renaissance.
The term has been used for well over two centuries and its origins have been lost. There are several theories as to its etymology:
- It may be so named because this was the traditional period where First Nations peoples would harvest their fall crops.
- In The Americans, The Colonial Experience, Daniel J. Boorstin speculates that term originated from raids on European colonies by Indian war parties; these raids usually ended in autumn, hence the extension to summer-like weather was an "Indian" summer. This is unlikely, as the first recorded instance of the term happened in 1778, by which time such raids would have become uncommon.
- It could be so named because the phenomenon was more common in what was then Indian territories, as opposed to the Eastern seaboard.
