Dancing at an Apache Sunrise Dance

Apache Indians dance at a Sunrise Dance, the first menstruation ceremony of an Apache girl, ton the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. The girls herself dances in a kneeling position. During the ceremony the girl ‘becomes’ Changing Woman, the mythical founder of the Apache Tribe, and this part of the ceremony is an enactment of when Changing Woman was impregnated by the sun and gave birth to a son. Behind the girl stands her godmother and behind her the medicine man and his assistants sing and beat their drums. The long row of cartons filled with snacks and drinks in front of the girl symbolises a life without material wants. The rites are supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life.

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Copyright: Copyright © 2004 Anders Ryman. All rights reserved.
Image Size: 5597x3700 / 13.7MB; American Indian American Indians American Southwest Apache Arizona Changing Woman Dancing Food Horizontal Native Americans Native North Americans North America Religion Rite of Passage San Carlos Indian Reservation Sunrise Dance USA United States of America Women adulthood baskets boxes buck-skin buckskin camp dress cane cartons ceremony cuisine cultural and ethnic dress dawn daybreak diet drum drums eagle feathers ethnic clothing ethnic group ethnic minority first menstruation food and nutrition girl hats household objects indigenous people jeans life cycle ceremony longevity male man maturity medicine man medicine-man minority morning music music instrument musical instrument musical instruments musician native-americans puberty rite quilt religious small group of people sun up sunrise sunrises sunshine teenage girl thing things
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Apache Indians dance at a Sunrise Dance, the first menstruation ceremony of an Apache girl, ton the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. The girls herself dances in a kneeling position. During the ceremony the girl ‘becomes’ Changing Woman, the mythical founder of the Apache Tribe, and this part of the ceremony is an enactment of when Changing Woman was impregnated by the sun and gave birth to a son. Behind the girl stands her godmother and behind her the medicine man and his assistants sing and beat their drums. The long row of cartons filled with snacks and drinks in front of the girl symbolises a life without material wants. The rites are supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life.