Crown Dancer at an Apache Sunrise Dance

A mountain spirit (gaan) or crown dancer dances during a Sunrise Dance on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. The Sunrise Dance, a first menstruation rite of an Apache girl, is held during the summer, within one year after the girl has had her first menstruation, and lasts for four days. The ceremony is an enactment of the Apache creation myth and during the rites the girl ’becomes‘ Changing Woman, a mythical female figure, and comes into possession of her healing powers. The rites are supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life without material wants.

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Copyright: Copyright © 2004 Anders Ryman. All rights reserved.
Image Size: 3684x5547 / 13.0MB; America American Indian American Indians American Southwest Apache Arizona Changing Woman Dancing Native Americans Native North Americans North America Religion Rite of Passage San Carlos Indian Reservation Sunrise Dance USA United States of America Vertical adulthood ceremony crown dancers cultural and ethnic dress eagle feathers ethnic ethnic group ethnic minority first menstruation gaan gaans half length portraits half-length portraits indigenous people life cycle ceremony male man maturity minority mountain spirits native-americans puberty rite religious
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A mountain spirit (gaan) or crown dancer dances during a Sunrise Dance on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. The Sunrise Dance, a first menstruation rite of an Apache girl, is held during the summer, within one year after the girl has had her first menstruation, and lasts for four days. The ceremony is an enactment of the Apache creation myth and during the rites the girl ’becomes‘ Changing Woman, a mythical female figure, and comes into possession of her healing powers. The rites are supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life without material wants.