Drummers at an Apache Sunrise Dance

A group of Apache males drum and sing at a Sunrise Dance, the first menstruation rite of an Apache girl, on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. The girl and her helper, both dressed in buckskin clothes, dance to the left. She holds a cane that symbolises longevity. The Sunrise Dance 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.

Add to Cart Add to Lightbox Download

Filename: 4541.jpg
Copyright: Copyright © 2004 Anders Ryman. All rights reserved.
Image Size: 5599x3716 / 13.9MB; Adults American Indian American Indians American Southwest Apache Arizona Boys Changing Woman Girls 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 cane ceremony drums eagle feathers ethnic group ethnic minority first menstruation indigenous people jeans life cycle ceremony maturity minority music musical instrument musical instruments native-americans ornament playing instruments religious small group of people sunshine t-shirts teenage girl
Contained in galleries

A group of Apache males drum and sing at a Sunrise Dance, the first menstruation rite of an Apache girl, on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. The girl and her helper, both dressed in buckskin clothes, dance to the left. She holds a cane that symbolises longevity. The Sunrise Dance 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.