Medcine Man holds a speech at an Apache girl's Sunrise Dance

The medicine man holds a speech during an Apache girl's Sunrise Dance, a first menstruation rite, on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, Arizona, USA. The Apache girl and her godmother stands in front of the wickiup in which the girl sleeps during the ceremony. The girl is equiped with various ritual objects, e g a straw for drinking, a peg with which to scratch herself, a cane symbolising lonevity and an abalone shell attached to her forehead symbolising Changing Woman, a mythical female figure. The ceremony is an enactment of the Apache creation myth and during the rites the girl ’becomes‘ Changing Woman 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: 5590x3712 / 12.5MB; Adults America American Indian American Indians American Southwest Apache Arizona Changing Woman Females Girls Horizontal Native American Native Americans Native North Americans North America North American Indian Religion Rite of Passage San Carlos Indian Reservation Sunrise Dance Traditional and Ethnic Costume Traditional and Ethnic Dress USA United States of America Women adornment adulthood bond boots camp dress cane ceremony cultural and ethnic dress decorations eagle feathers ethnic ethnic group ethnic minority first menstruation gesture gestures gesturing hat indigenous people life cycle ceremony longevity maturity medicine man medicine-man minority native-americans ornament puberty rite religious small group of people speaking sunshine talking teenage girl
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The medicine man holds a speech during an Apache girl's Sunrise Dance, a first menstruation rite, on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, Arizona, USA. The Apache girl and her godmother stands in front of the wickiup in which the girl sleeps during the ceremony. The girl is equiped with various ritual objects, e g a straw for drinking, a peg with which to scratch herself, a cane symbolising lonevity and an abalone shell attached to her forehead symbolising Changing Woman, a mythical female figure. The ceremony is an enactment of the Apache creation myth and during the rites the girl ’becomes‘ Changing Woman 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.