Apache girl covered in clay at her Sunrise Dance

An Apache girl covered in sacred white clay and corn meal at her Sunrise Dance, a first menstruation rite, on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. The painting of the girl with the white clay is both a blessing and an enactment of certain parts of the Apache creation myth. 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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Filename: 4611.jpg
Copyright: Copyright © 2004 Anders Ryman. All rights reserved.
Image Size: 3551x5432 / 13.2MB; America American Indian American Indians American Southwest Apache Arizona Changing Woman Native Americans Native North Americans North America Outdoors Portrait Religion Rite of Passage San Carlos Indian Reservation Sunrise Dance USA United States of America Vertical abalone shell adulthood ceremony ethnic ethnic group ethnic minority first menstruation girl head shot indigenous people life cycle ceremony maturity minority native-americans one person only ornament outside puberty rite religious sunshine teenage girl
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An Apache girl covered in sacred white clay and corn meal at her Sunrise Dance, a first menstruation rite, on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. The painting of the girl with the white clay is both a blessing and an enactment of certain parts of the Apache creation myth. 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.