Apache men buthcer a cow in preparation for a Sunrise Dance

In preparation for a Sunrise Dance, the first menstruation rite of an Apache girl, the family of the girl's godparents butcher a cow on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. The Sunrise Dance 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 also 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: 5606x3719 / 13.8MB; America American Indian American Indians American Southwest Apache Arizona Horizontal Males Men Native American Native Americans Native North Americans North America North American Indian Outdoors Parts of animals Religion Rite of Passage San Carlos Indian Reservation Sunrise Dance USA United States of America butchering ceremony cutting-up dead ethnic group ethnic minority events farm animals group of people indigenous people life cycle ceremony maturity meat minority native-americans outside puberty rite religious
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In preparation for a Sunrise Dance, the first menstruation rite of an Apache girl, the family of the girl's godparents butcher a cow on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. The Sunrise Dance 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 also supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life without material wants.