Apache girl makes bread as part of the preparations for her Sunrise Dance

As part of the preparation for her Sunrise Dance, an Apache girl learns how to make bread from her mother, on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. June 2004. The Sunrise Dance, a first menstruation rite, is the most important ceremony of the Apache Indians. It 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: 5610x3717 / 17.7MB; American Indian American Southwest Apache Arizona Changing Woman Native American Native Americans Native North Americans North America North American Indian Religion Rite of Passage San Carlos Indian Reservation Sunrise Dance USA United States of America action blur adulthood bread color image color photography colour image colour photography daughter ethnic group ethnic minority first menstruation girl indigenous people indoors inside kitchen life cycle ceremony long hair long-haired longevity minority mother motion blur native-american religious small group of people teenage girl
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As part of the preparation for her Sunrise Dance, an Apache girl learns how to make bread from her mother, on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. June 2004. The Sunrise Dance, a first menstruation rite, is the most important ceremony of the Apache Indians. It 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.