Mescalero Apache rite of passage

The Final Stage of the Ceremony

In the final stage of the Ceremony, the girl returns to the arms of her tribe. The Medicine Woman then blesses her while covering her with pollen, the symbol of fertility. Finally, the girl runs four circles around a basket of ceremonial goods, and wipes the clay off her face, symbolizing her entrance to womanhood.

Afterwards, she is celebrated with gifts. food and stories by her elders. The Girl is now a Woman.

Stage one of the Ceremony

The first stage of the ceremony involves two pieces. The girl runs four circles around a basket filled with ritualistic goods in her sacred dress. The second half is performed in stoic solitude. The girl, and one trusted, chosen partner, run in all four directions of the desert, to symbolize the four stages of life.

Stage Two of the Ceremony

About the Puberty Rite

The Mescalero Apache Puberty Rite is a 4 day ritual, performed the week of July fourth, that marks the beginning of womanhood. This rite of passage is known as the "Apache Sunrise Ceremony" and re-enacts the story of the first woman in Apache faith.

This stage re enacts the story of The Changing Woman. The girl is massaged and 'molded'. She then performs an overnight prayer which includes ritualistic dance, and throwing sacred blankets in all four directions, again symbolizing the four stages of life. The girl does not stop dancing for the whole night.

At the end of this, a group of Medicine Men welcome the rising sun and the girl is painted with cornmeal and clay, which stays

on for the rest of the ceremony.

Ritual Preparation

For the subject of the ritual, preparation involves increasing physical strength and endurance, along with creating sacred dress for the ceremony.

For the parents, it involves finding the perfect medicine woman to welcome their daughter to womanhood, a group of medicine men, and preparing food to feed the guests and participants of the ceremony.

Rites of Passage in the Mescalero Apache Tribe

Rites of passage, very important rituals, define a person's adult life in the Mescalero Apache tribe. One example is the Mescalero Apache Puberty Rite, where girls turn women, become independent and empower themselves to begin their adulthood. They are very sacred, religious ceremonies where family and friends gather to celebrate a coming of age.

The Mescalero Apache

The Mescalero Apache People are made up of the three sub-tribes Mescalero, Lipan and Chiricahua, making a tribe of over 3,000 people in Mescalero, New Mexico.

Works Cited

• “Apache Girl’s Rite of Passage.” National Geographic, video.nationalgeographic.com/video/us-apachegirl-pp. Accessed 18 Apr. 2017.
• “Our Culture.” Mescalero Apache Tribe, mescaleroapachetribe.com/our-culture/. Accessed 18 Apr. 2017.
• “Some Apache Ceremonies.” Native American Netroots, nativeamericannetroots.net/diary/1735. Accessed 18 Apr. 2017.
• Yupanqui, Tika. “Apache Female Puberty Sunrise Ceremony.” WebWinds, Tracy Marks, 15 Jan. 2001, www.webwinds.com/yupanqui/apachesunrise.htm. Accessed 18 Apr. 2017.

Mescalero Apache Women's

Coming of Age