Apache Nai’es Ceremony (Woman’s Coming of Age Ceremony)

The field trip I chose to explore was “Apache Nai’es Ceremony (Woman’s Coming of Age Ceremony)”. The Apache tribe generally live in the eastern and central areas of Arizona. Some archaeologist believe their arrival there is sometime around 1450, while others such as archaeologist Chris Coder believes their arrival could be up to two-centuries earlier. Rock art shows evidence of the Tonto Apache being present at some time in the Beaver Creek area and the west side of the Sedona area.

The Apache tribe have been described as hunting and gathering people.

During my virtual field trip, I learned about the “Woman’s Coming of Age Ceremony”. “The four-day ceremony require intermittent fasting, abstinence of bathing, eating ritual foods and vigorous prayer session (Frances Madeson 2016) Theses ceremonies take place every Independence Day at the Mescalero Apache tribal lands in New Mexico. The public is invited to attend at to witness a series of rituals as part of the tribe’s traditional puberty rites.

During the ceremonies the young girls will have bee pollen streaked among their faces and scalps, this is considered an agent of fertility. All ritual ingredients are forbidden to be purchased including the pollen that is used. Herbs that are used for the “Indian tea” or mescal all must be harvested in advanced. Young girls traditionally wore buckskin as their dresses during the ceremony, most of the dresses were either inherited from a relative or made special for the ceremony.

During these rituals ceremonies the girls are prohibited to touch their own bodies. This includes scratching their bodies or wiping off perspiration. These actions must be done with a special stick or a scarf. The men participating in the ceremony will shake their rattles and sing. The young girls will run laps, there will be a total of 4 laps during the first run symbolizing a stage of life in the Apache worldview: infant, toddler, pubescent youth and elder.

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