Apache dance at a Sunrise Dance

Apache Indians dance at a Sunrise Dance, the first menstruation ceremony of an Apache girl, on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. Behind the girl, who is dressed in buckskin clothes, the medicine man and his helpers 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 want. The rites are supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life. During the rites the girl also becomes Changing Woman, a mythical female figure, and comes into possession of her healing powers.

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Copyright: Copyright © 2004 Anders Ryman. All rights reserved.
Image Size: 5589x3687 / 13.2MB; American Indian American Indians American Southwest Apache Arizona Changing Woman Horizontal Native Americans Native North Americans North America Religion Rite of Passage San Carlos Indian Reservation Sunrise Dance USA United States of America adulthood buck-skin buckskin ceremony cultural and ethnic dress dawn daybreak drum drums eagle feathers ethnic clothing ethnic minority first menstruation food and drink fringed fringes indigenous people life cycle ceremony longevity maturity medicine man morning music music instrument musical instrument musical instruments musician native-americans puberty rite religious small group of people sun up sunrise sunrises sunshine
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Apache Indians dance at a Sunrise Dance, the first menstruation ceremony of an Apache girl, on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. Behind the girl, who is dressed in buckskin clothes, the medicine man and his helpers 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 want. The rites are supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life. During the rites the girl also becomes Changing Woman, a mythical female figure, and comes into possession of her healing powers.