Na’ii’ees By:

Nahla Curran & Karen Tani

The White Mountain Apache Tribe Reservation in Arizona. Photo courtesy of: Canku Ota

Running toward the sun, wearing bright yellow dresses, praying with godmothers. The Sunrise Ceremony marks the passage, for girls, of childhood to womanhood. The Apache people in Arizona celebrate it during spring or summer and in New Mexico on July 4th or during the weekend. It takes place after the first summer of the girl’s menstruation. This ceremony requires a lot of preparation; therefore it is prepared six months before. It may not happen for some girls because of the cost, but for the families that do have the money they have to choose a medicine man to lead the ceremony, the girl’s buckskin dress must be sewed, the girl must be trained for the ceremony, and the food must be prepared. A week before the ceremony the family has to honor the girl’s godparents by preparing them a special meal. The ceremony usually takes place outside but if it rains they go inside and it turns into a test to see how faithful and enduring the girl is. From the being to the end of the ceremony the girl is not allowed to take a bath or shower, scratch with her hands, so she has to use the scratching stick, and she can only drink through a yellow cane. The girl reviews the four Apache life objectives: strength, good personality, success, and a sound, healthy old age. The day before the ceremony the men who will be the crown dancers must take a sweat bath so that they can purify themselves. The medicine man has to prepare the ritual items such as a scratching stick, a drinking tube, abalone shell pendant, which is from an edible sea snail, an eagle feather, a buckskin serape, and large buckskin. The Dressing Ceremony may occur on the same day or the next day. Before the Dressing Ceremony the medicine man tells the girl that she is going to reenact the White Painted Woman, meaning that the girl will be able to use the White Painted Woman’s healing powers and that she must fast and drink only water. Before sunset on the day of the ceremony the girl’s godparents come dancing into the camp and dress her into her traditional clothing.  

 

The four cardinal points are very important in the Sunrise Ceremony because to them they represent the four stages of life. North is childhood, East womanhood, South adulthood, and West old age.

The Myth

The White Painted woman is the first woman of the Apache tribe. On top of a mountain she is impregnated by the sun and gives birth to the Killer of Enemies. She is then pregnant with the son of the rain called Son of Water. Her sons kill the Owl Man Giant that was spreading fear to the tribe. She cries from the triumph that her sons have done, which today is what the godmother does. White Painted Women was guided to establish the Sunrise Ceremony and when she becomes old she walks east toward the sun to meet her younger self and becomes young.  

The Eight Phases

The first phase is called bildeenikléé or all alone she dances. For this phase the girl dances on the buckskin with the medicine man. The second phase is niztah also known as sitting is after the dancing. The girl has to sway from side to side while the music is playing. The third phase is niztii or lying. The girl lies down on the buckskin while her godmother is massaging her on the back, legs, and shoulders. The fourth is gishshizhaahá bidaa leedilyee, cane set out for her, she runs around it. The girl has to run four times between a case and the buckskin, where as each time the cane is further away. The runs symbolize the four stages in life. The fifth is also running except that the girl has to run towards the four cardinal points, meaning that she can run for a long time and for distances without feeling tired. The sixth is known as kéni naayiziid or candy, it is poured. The medicine man has a basket filled with candy, corn kernels, acorns, and coins, and pours it over the girl’s head. Then the spectators go and pick them up, sort of like a piñata. The seventh is baana’ildih, blessing her; the medicine man and the adults present bless the girl and godmother with the holy pollen. The final phase is called jiih’ikee known as blankets, she throws them off is when the girl gets off of the buckskin and throws a blanket at each cardinal points.

The girl is put in the middle of her family and the medicine man were there are feathers, drums, buckskins, scarves, beads, shells, and yellow pollen. Her godmother is the one to dress her up. The last thing that is put on her is the eagle feather. The eagle feather is to symbolize a long and healthy life, the abalone shell is to symbolize the sign of a changing woman and also the girl’s purity, and the yellow pollen symbolizes fertility. Then the medicine man gives the girl a sacred cane and the girl takes the role of the White Painted Woman. The girl has to sway back and forth, this symbolizes the first menstruation cycle and the impregnation of White Painted Woman by the sun. She cannot remove the pollen for four days or she may lose her powers and water may not touch her lips or it will rain. When the ceremony is over the medicine man and his assistants sing thirty-two songs.  

The Ceremonies

The Sunrise Dance is an extreme physical test that lasts for four days. It is also based on the legend when White Painted Woman walks east to the sun and meets her younger self. To the Apache tribe when the dance is performed the Apache women meet their younger self and are born again. The Mountain Spirits or Crown Dancers bring blessings to the girl and remove the negative spirits. The bells and tins sewed to their kilt signify the sounds of raindrops once they hit the ground. According to the people they live in mountain tunnels and represent the four sacred mountains around the Apaches home. The crown dancers are also important to heal the sick girl by dancing and praying for four days and nights to teach her the song to take back a person who died.

Chiricahua Apache, Apache Crown Dance Courtesy of: Houser, Allan

The girl will undergo the ceremony. Photo courtesy of: Cavallaro, Daniel & Darlene

This is a photo of a girl painted with pollen, and corn. Photo courtesy of: Haunted Garden, tumblr

The next morning the girl has to grind the corn. She is painted with corn, pollen and sometimes clay. The pollen symbolizes fertility and the corn symbolizes life. After this ceremony the crown dancers are required to dance again. In the painting ceremony, there is also sand painting. The sand painting ceremony is beautiful and a very popular art form for the Apache people.

The next day the girl is undressed by her godmother, there are more songs and the Sunrise Ceremony is over.  

After the Sunrise Dance, as seen in phase three, the girl has to lie down on a blanket so that her godmother can mold her into a strong and beautiful woman. The way they need to massage is, first the girl has to bring four blankets from her camp, and then buckskin is placed over the blanket. The reason of this is the girl has to dance on them and to be massage upon it. Her godmother massages her with her head and mouth pointing to the sun meaning that the girl will not talk back or say dirty stuff. When the godmother pulls her hair it is so that her hair would grow longer.  

The godmother massaging the girl. Photo Courtesy of: Cody, Ernestine

 Bibliography

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