Apache Ceremony

The Curing Ceremony

Sickness usually attributed to violation of one or more of hundreds of taboos, including

• Eating tongue of deer
  
• Boiling deer's stomach
  
• Stepping on snake's trail
  
• Cooking with wood from lightning-struck tree
  
• Cooking with wood from tree on which a deer has urinated
  
• Drinking water in which a bear has bathed
  
• Fanning a fire with one's hat
  
• Urinating in water
  
• Throwing unused water in direction of rising sun

No one Apache person knows all taboos--thus, many are unknowingly broken

Two broad categories of ceremonies:

1. Diagnostic (usually last sundown to midnight)
2. Curative (last one or more full nights)

Ceremonies always or nearly always include

• Turquoise and eagle feather
  
• Cattail pollen ("holy powder")
  
• Chants from gan, bear and black-tailed deer bodies
  
• Prayers to Changing Woman, water and sun
  
• Stress on thinking good thoughts

Myths narrated on eve before ceremony

The Sunrise Dance (Girl's Puberty Ceremony)

Until recently, every Apache girl had na'ih'es ceremony--today some do, but most do not. The Sunrise Dance has been strongly opposed by Christian missionaries; younger Apaches more often question its effectiveness; and the ceremony is very expensive (both in terms of money and labor).

The na'ih'es is a clan event--labor and expenses are shared by the clan.

The date of the event is in the summer months following girl's first period.

A girl must have a sponsor--she must not belong to the girl's clan nor her father's clan. She will play a large role in the ceremony, and give a substantial financial contribution. The character of the sponsor and whether she had her own na'ih'es are important issues to consider.

The day before the ceremony food is presented by the girl's sponsor. The girl's male relatives have a sweatbath and prepare ritual items, including

• A walking stick (used in the ceremony and saved for her old age)
  
• Drinking tube (water may not touch her lips)
  
• Scratching stick (she may not touch herself)
  
• Abalone shell (identifying her with Changing Woman)
  
• An Eagle feather for her hair
  
• Buckskin clothes for the girl
  
• Buckskin for her to dance on
  

In phase 1 of the ceremony, she dances alone to the chants of the creation cycle. Here the power of Changing Woman enters the girl.

In phase 2, she the girl's sponsor arrives to instruct and support the girl. The girl kneels, and as she faces directly into the Sun and the chants are performed, the impregnation of Changing Woman by the Sun is recreated.

In phase 3 the girl is lying face down on the buckskin, and is massaged by the sponsor--she is being molded under the power of Changing Woman.

In phase 4, the cane is set in the ground and the girl runs to and around it four times. Each time represents a stage in her life, as the cane is moved farther away each time.

In phase 5, the girl is again running, this time being strengthened against fatigue in life.

In phase 6, candy is poured over the girl. As it touches her, the power of Changing Woman is taken into the candy, and the the people of the crowd take it to themselves.

In phase 7, the girl and her sponsor dance in place, while the adults in the group share in blessing her. Those who bless the girl may ask Changing Woman for their own personal blessing or wish (such as for a good crop, for healing, or for their children).

The final phase has the girl throwing them off--she shakes out the buckskin on the ground and throws it to the east. She then throws a blanket to the south, the west, and the north.

The power of Changing Woman is in the girl for four days following the ceremony.

 
Information largely taken from The Cibecue Apache by Keith Basso (AZ, 1970)