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Apache Sunrise Ceremony
Called the Naiiees, the Apache Sunrise Ceremony is a four-day communal celebration that marks the first menstruation of an Apache woman. It consists of numerous sacred rituals, dances, songs, and enactments during which the girl becomes a living representation of White Painted Woman, the first woman in the world and the mother of the Apache people (Yupanqui 1999).
The purposes of the Sunrise ceremony are numerous. First, a young woman undergoing the ceremony achieves a deep connection to her spiritual heritage. She identifies with White Painted Woman and the symbol of divine womanhood that she represents. Second, it marks the transition from childhood to adulthood, allowing the young woman to celebrate her new status in a communal setting. Third, it helps her embrace her role as an Apache woman, encouraging her to be hard working, selfless, and composed. According to Tika Yupanqui, the young womans temperament during the ceremony is believed to be the primary indicator of her temperament throughout her future life. Finally, the Sunrise ceremony helps unify the community by bring friends and families together (Yupanqui 1999).
The hosting of a Sunrise ceremony can sometimes require up to six months of preparation. The young woman undergoing the ceremonial ordeal must be trained, her buckskin dress must be sewed, a medicine man must be chosen, food must be prepared, and a hundred other large and small tasks must be completed simply for the Sunrise ceremony to begin (Yupanqui 1999).
Because of the physical element of the ceremony--the girl dances and runs extensively--rigorous physical training is often a large part of the preparation for a Sunrise ceremony. During the week before the ceremonial, the girls family honors her godparents by serving them a special meal. Then, four nights of nights of singing and prayers lead up to the main ceremonial (Yupanqui 1999).
The actual ceremony is just as complex as the preparation, if not more so. It traditionally takes place the summer after a girls first menstrual cycle. Families usually pray that the weather will be pleasant for the ceremony, but if it is not--if, for instance, the creator god Usen decides to give them rain--then the Sunrise Ceremony simply becomes a sacred test of the girl's faith and endurance (Leffanta 1999). The Sunrise Ceremony consists of several smaller rituals, the more significant of which include the Dressing Ceremony, the Sunrise Dance, the Massaging, the Crown Dance, and the Painting Ceremony.
On the day before the ceremony, the men who will be involved take a sweat bath to purify themselves (Goseyun 1990). Then the medicine man and his assistants prepare some of the ritual items that will be used during the ceremony, such as a scratching stick, drinking tube, an abalone shell pendant, a downy eagle feather, a fringed buckskin serape, and a large buckskin. A special meal is cooked and served to the girls godmother. Sometimes the Dressing Ceremony occurs on this day; at other times it takes place the next day (Goseyun 1990).
Before sundown on the day of the ceremony, the girls godparents come dancing into the camp and dress her in her traditional--and highly symbolic--clothing. Before the dressing ceremony begins, the medicine man will make a speech, urging people to be prayerful for the duration of the ceremony and reminding them that they are all brothers and sisters. He tells the girl that she because she is embodying White Painted Woman during this time, she will have access to White Painted Womans special healing powers. He admonishes her to fast and drink only water (Goseyun 1990).
Then the dressing ceremony begins. The young woman is led to the middle of a ground-covering where feathers, drums, buckskins, scarves, beads, shells and sacred yellow pollen have all been carefully laid out. The last thing to be put on her is the eagle feather. After the Dressing Ceremony, the medicine man and his singers sing thirty two songs (Goseyun 1990).
The next day, the young woman is woken up before sunrise by one of the medicine mans assistants and is led out to the dance grounds. There, she prepares the blankets she will dance and be massaged upon. That morning, she dances for six hours total, a test of physical as well as spiritual endurance. Later, the young woman kneels down on her blanket and sways back and forth to the sound of the medicine man and his assistants singing (Goseyun 1990).
Finally, she is bid to lay down on the blanket, and she is massaged by her godmother (Goseyun 1990). Her legs, back, and shoulders are massaged to mold her into a strong, beautiful woman (Yupanqui 1999).
After the Sunrise Dance, two men cut down trees that will be used to build the girls prayer tipi. That evening, dinner is served to everyone and there are gift exchanges. Then, the Crown Dancers--who are always men--perform. They are considered to be spiritual beings, not men in costumes, and the assembled people bless them with sacred yellow pollen. Thirty-two Crown Dance songs are sung that night, and the girl dances with the Crown Dancers in her tipi all night (Goseyun 1990).
The girl is permitted to sleep for a little while, and then the following morning she is again drawn to her blanket, where she begins grinding the corn for her Painting Ceremony. Then she dances for several hours more and is painted from head to foot with corn, pollen, and sometimes clay (Goseyun 1990).
After the Painting Ceremony, the Crown Dancers perform once again, are thanked, and dismissed. The girl is allowed to rest for the remainder of the day. The next day final prayers are said. The girl is undressed by her godmother, more songs are sung, and the Sunrise Ceremony ends (Goseyun 1990).
As mentioned previously, during the Sunrise Ceremony the young woman is considered to be the living embodiment of White Painted Woman. While performing the actual rituals in the ceremony, her powers are used for herself. However, between rituals and when the ceremony is over, individuals will often approach the young woman to receive the benefit of her blessing, which has the power to heal. When being healed by the young woman, the patient kneels or stands across from her. She lifts her arms--palms upward--four times without ever actually touching the patient (Harvard College 1998).
Associated with the powers of White Painted Woman are taboos that the young woman must follow. She cannot drink except with a straw, because the cup she drinks from may cause her to grow whiskers about her mouth. She is not allowed to bathe, because that would wash away some of the power. If she has an itch, she must scratch it only with a scratching stick, for otherwise she will develop sores that could potentially cause ugly scars to form (Harvard College 1998).
According to Tika Yupanqui, In the early 1900s, when the U.S. government banned Native American spiritual practices and rituals, conducting the Sunrise Ceremony was an illegal act; as a result, its practice diminished, and those ceremonies that did occur were conducted secretly (Yupanqui 1999). It wasnt until 1978 that the Sunrise Ceremony was openly re-established on most reservations under the protection of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act. As a result, the practice of the Sunrise Ceremony has died out somewhat over the last century (Yupanqui 1999).
Traditionally, every single Apache woman would have undergone a Sunrise Ceremony to celebrate her entrance into womanhood. However, this is no longer the case. Today, it is often too expensive to have a Sunrise Ceremony, and even when families can afford it, they do not always want to adhere to the traditional ways of their ancestors (Yupanqui 1999).
Because of the great amounts of time and expenses involved with the hosting of a Sunrise Ceremony, many young women celebrate their initiation into womanhood today in a shortened, one to two day ceremony. Also, while a single young woman would once have been the only focus of a Sunrise Ceremony, today ceremonies are occasionally sponsored by more than one family and celebrate the menstruation of multiple young girls at once (Yupanqui 1999).
Works Cited
Yupanqui, Tiki. Becoming Woman. 1999. <http://www.webwinds.com/yupanqui/apache sunrise.htm#Introduction>
Leffanta, Rico. Apache Puberty Rite. 1999. <http://www.geocities.com/coqrico/apachedance.html>
Goseyun, Anna E. Sunrise Ceremonial. 1990. <http://www2.hsp.org/exhibits/Balch%20exhibits/rites/apache.html>
Harvard College. The Sunrise Dance. 1998. <http://www.peabody.harvard.edu/exhibitions.html>