Fort Apache Indian Reservation is the last living library of Native American culture, a tenuous distinction which exists only because Apaches won't touch something belonging to a dead person (because the spirit of the dead person may return for its property, and no one needs more strife in their life) and white people have had limited access to FAIR, so many things are just where their owners left them centuries ago.
Below the wingtip of the vulture lies Kinishba, a pueblo ruin abandoned at least 50-years before Columbus discovered America.
In the foreground, an Apache puberty rite for a young girl is being held along the banks of the White River, within walking distance of historic Fort Apache. In this land, Mother's Day for Mother Earth is every day of the year.
The terrain varies from desert to mountain forests; an outdoor enthusiast can enjoy skiing and skinny-dipping on the same day, among an incredible variety of flora and fauna. To the greedy, Fort Apache Indian Reservation has always been "love at first sight".
The Hollywood version of Fort Apache has little resemblance to the "academic" version, which has little resemblance to documents of the U.S.Army, Department of the Interior, and BIA ("Bossing Indians Around"), which have little resemblance to the version of "The People" now united as The White Mountain Apache Tribe.
As Business and Office Instructor at the White Mountain Apache Tribal Vocational Skill Center and as Executive Assistant to the Tribal Chairman, I was able to live on FAIR, learn the Apache version of history, participate in Apache rites, ceremonies, and other activities. With a letter from Phil Stago, Game and Fish Director, I was also able to wander Fort Apache Indian Reservation, and take photographs - something akin to being given the key to Paradise before anyone arrives.
The knot which ties this little package together is my business experience overseas (Australasia - Europe) and Will Durante's "Story of Civilization" which enabled me to fit many pieces of the puzzle together. So this version of Fort Apache Indian Reservation is likely to be very different from anything else you may have read before because I've been fortunate to see FAIR from many different perspectives.
I wandered Fort Apache on foot, following petroglyph trails etched by "The People" centuries ago. Although FAIR is transformed into a world of mud unsuitable even for 4x4s when it rains (only the main road is paved) there are many trails seldom used since the arrival of horses!
For me, every trail was an adventure, and a treat. I discovered ruins, caches, and sacred sites; I scared the hell out of hundreds of rattlesnakes sleeping on the job, and had the hell scared out of me in confrontations with a very determined mountain lion, a mother bear defending two cubs, packs of wild dogs, a monster wild bull dedicated to defending its harem and territory, and numerous supernatural events, the most damaging of which was standing in a cave occupied by mummies when the ground opened up and swallowed me knee-deep into an occupied grave, causing me to almost pulverize my brain against the walls of the cave in a frantic attempt to escape!
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- "She is painted"An Apache girl is painted during a gruelling 4-day ceremony which tests her suitability to be recognized as a woman among The People. This ceremony is so important that Geronimo halted an escape from Fort Apache to hold the ceremony for a girl who experienced menarche on the trail. With one-quarter of the entire U.S. Army looking for them, Geronimo's fame as a medicine man was assured when he used his mystic power to conceal the ceremony from the soldiers, then lead his band safely into Mexico. In September, 1991, a "lifeless" Apache girl was not flown to Phoenix as directed by Indian Health Service, but taken by ambulance - in her hospital bed -to a campground where the ceremony resulted in a "miraculous" cure, proving once again that Apaches know best how to live in their own land. |
Most of what you have read about Fort Apache Indian Reservation is nonsense or outright propaganda, much by ignorance, most by greed.
The academic world is noted for its scholarly practice of sitting in an university library, copying down all the mistakes of others, then affixing one's name and credentials to authenticate those mistakes. So, in the 1990s, we still have 'expert' ornithologists claiming turkey vultures do not attack living creatures, and 'expert' anthropologists claiming petroglyphs "are the idle doodlings of a primitive race."
Those experts were still in the library when I was following petroglyphs up a sheer cliff, blood dripping from scrapes and cactus-spine punctures while turkey vultures, nostrils throbbing in a frenzy of excitement, tried their very best to knock me off the cliff with their wings. Any ornithologist who hasn't seen a turkey vulture fell a bird from the sky with a wing hasn't spent much time outdoors!
Even in universities, the pursuit of knowledge has always been secondary to the pursuit of cash. Academics claim Native Americans originate in Mongolia, because a mummy was found in Mongolia with teeth identical to the teeth of Native Americans. Academically, it is inconceivable that a virile Native American could travel to Mongolia, academics believe only a Mongollian would have the intelligence to cross the Straits to America, therefore, all Native Americans are really Mongollians and have no ancestral claim to their land.
Here are facts anyone can confirm: the slaves sold in Mexico City at the highest prices were Apaches, because it didn't matter how much they were beaten, or how little they were fed, Apaches lived longer than other slaves.
The problem was that Apaches didn't like being slaves, and would escape at every opportunity. Worse, they were devilish clever at avoiding capture, and quickly returned to their homeland, which did nothing to enhance Spanish prestige.
Although other matters were pressing, the situation was such that the King of Spain stepped up to the plate and decreed all Apache slaves must be shipped to Cuba, where it was unlikely any of them would escape. Yet some returned to their homeland, just as Apaches managed to escape from slavery in the U.S.A.
TRUST ME government call slavery, "Education". Until Theodore Roosevelt Boarding School was established at Fort Apache, all Apache children of school age were seized - anyone trying to hide a child was imprisoned or denied rations - and shipped back East to work without wages in fields, laundries and workhouses where they were beaten and starved for speaking Apache, or in any way behaving like an Apache. Their heads were shaved like convicts and they were forced to wear clothing intended to make them too ashamed to escape and return home and be seen by family friends and relatives. Yet, from all directions and circumstances, many found their way home, certain it was better to be an Apache than to be "educated"!)
(The
With these facts in mind, how can anyone claim Indians couldn't go to Mongolia and return?
Other academic babble insists Apaches have no ancestral claim to the land because the Apache language has Athapascan roots which originated in the north, gradually moving south, until arriving in the 4-Corners area during the 17th Century. A more logical mind might conclude the language originated in the South, where it is widely spoken, and diminished in the north where it is rarely spoken, yet anyone with an ounce of common sense would realise that aboriginies in Africa, America, Australia, and Asia, speak, read, and write fluent English although neither they, nor any of their ancestors, originated in England!
Ignorance has always been the province of academics. Mormon settlers coveted the Apache corn crop; the problem was the Mormon god couldn't be satisfied with one-tenth of one cob of corn, so the solution was to steal the entire crop so god could get his rightful (profitable) share. This presented a minor problem (Mormans aren't supposed to steal; they probably aren't supposed to covet, but when God has spoken, people listen).
The Morman god has never been shy about making a profit, so a U.S. Army Surveyor (officer and gentleman, according to Congress) experienced a vision which made it quite clear that a qualified U. S. Army Surveyor could not read a U. S. Army map. In fact, the treaty description and 3 maps showing the eastern boundary of Fort Apache Indian Reservation were all so nebulous that neither surveyor, engineer, nor Secretary of the Department of the Interior could distinguish that border.
This little problem was solved by a Divine Revelation in which they all understood the eastern boundary of Fort Apache Indian Reservation should be a meridian which, by sheer coincidence, put Apache cornfields in the public domain where Mormons could appropriate the cornfields without stealing them. The Morman god truly works in mysterious ways his wonders to fulfill!
Divine Intervention is clearly visible on any map of Arizona, because all of the land between the current eastern boundary of Fort Apache Indian Reservation and the current border of New Mexico is still predominately held by Mormans, who believe the world will end tomorrow but, until then, intend to be the wealthiest church in America.
Greed is never satisfied. After Mormons got the land, they wanted control over Apache water, so despite the treaty, the TRUST ME government seized part of the White Mountain - sacred to most Southwestern Indians -and further demonstrated its fiduciary responsibility by constructing an hiking trail directly to the boundary below the summit of the Sacred White Mountain.
When Indians complained that hikers were desecrating their sacred ground, interrupting prayers, rites and ceremonies, dismantling shrines, and leaving trash all over the sacred site, the TRUST ME government responded that no money had been budgeted to post "No Trespassing" signs, for law enforcement, nor for clean-up.
By treaty, white people were not permitted on FAIR, but the TRUST ME government were not happy with that agreement.
As Senator Daniel K. Inouye reminds us, in the entire history of the United States, Congress has failed to honour every treaty made with the native people of this land, so Congress has never had any qualms about breaking a treaty with Apaches.
Apaches believe the earth is their mother; who would allow their mother to be abused and plundered? Despite the TRUST ME government's encouragement for miners to illegally prospect on Fort Apache Indian Reservation, Apaches would not permit mining - a decision which continues to bring them grief.
One Secretary of the Interior "resolved" the problem by deeding himself part of Fort Apache Indian Reservation so he could profit from an illegal coal mine; that Secretary got an hour to clean out his desk, Apaches got only the grief.
Then Congress found a solution which made them all happy. By Presidential Order, mineral rich areas of the Reservation could be "restored" to the public domain (an impossibility because it was never part nor parcel of the public domain) as a National Park or Forest where mining was legal.
These illegal tactics resulted in Fort Apache Indian Reservation being substantially reduced - not once, but FIVE TIMES, so illegal mining operations could continue on FAIR land. Today, most of those mines are exhausted, but the tailings and chemicals remain to become someone else's problem.
Greed is never satisfied. When land has been exhausted, it is time to get more land - especially land with water, when one lives in a desert!
The State of Arizona, doesn't have sufficient water, but it does have an endless supply of taxpayers willing to fund spurious law suits over water rights. Neither the Territory nor State of Arizona existed when the Treaty was agreed, yet the State of Arizona litigates with the hope that the White Mountain Apache Tribe will someday be financially unable to defend the action in court, and lose by default.
Maricopa County (Phoenix) - a desert county - has more golf courses than any other county in the entire U.S.A.! Former Governor (now prisoner) Fyfe Symington reasoned that watering those golf courses was more important to Arizona, than irrigating Apache corn fields. If Apaches want corn, then the BIA should buy it from Arizona farmers because Apaches just couldn't be trusted to use their water wisely - i.e., by watering 168 GOLF COURSES IN THE MIDDLE OF A DESERT!!!
The TRUST ME government is much more devious. The Department of the Interior relies upon the BIA to keep the Tribe poor. It does this with Machiavellian maneuvers now operating at 97% efficiency, i.e.,
97¢ out of every dollar appropriated by Congress for Indian Programs are consumed by the BIA in administering the administration of directing funds to Indian programs!
This system enables a BIA employee who doesn't like the truck he has been assigned, to drive the truck into a ditch and abandon it, then get another truck. If anyone complains, the BIA will respond that there is no money in the budget to repair the truck, so the only alternative is to lay-off Indian workers until enough money has been saved to repair the truck, which could take a very long time because of the cost of making up for the work not being done by the laid-off workers.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth set a trial date of December 3, 2001 for interior Secretary Gale Norton and Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Neal McCaleb to show why they should not be held in contempt for failing to provide the court with evidence of what happened to an estimated $10-billion held in trust by the Interior Department since 1887 which allegedly is classified as "lost misappropriated, stolen or never collected."
In 1999, Lamberth held former Interior Secretary Babbit and Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin in contempt and fined them $600,000 for failing to produce documents in the case, but even American taxpayers don't seem to care as, after all, the government just charges the expense to Indian programs.
Another tactic is the Endangered Species Act, which no one reads.
If anyone actually read it, they would discover the ESA Mexican Spotted Owl legislation invoked to curtail the White Mountain Apache Tribe's primary source of income (forestry), very clearly states that the Mexican Spotted Owl originates in the Rincon Mountains of Tucson, where there is an abundance of the mesquite and palo verde trees the owl prefers, because it doesn't like to be higher than 8' from the ground to swoop down on its dinner!
Yet a dubious sighting of a Mexican Spotted Owl perched on a bush 5,000 feet above its natural habitat in a ponderosa pine forest where almost all of the branches are well-above 8' from the ground is, according to the TRUST ME government, justification for closing the forest.
Where there is smoke, there is fire. The TRUST ME government suddenly realized there are places on Fort Apache Indian Reservation where white people, especially prospecting white people, have never been, and ESA is the key to that door. What else could the BIA do except call in teams of experts to survey FAIR just to see if there might be more Endangered Species where white people have never been?
No one should be suprised that these teams discovered bugs, plants, and fish no one knew about!
Greed is never satisfied! The TRUST ME government will never let a few "ignorant savages" who believe the earth is their mother, stop the mighty U. S. Government from developing the nation's natural resources!
The Endangered Species Act is all they need to restore Reservation land to the public domain by calling it a National Forest, where mining is legal, and after the mining operations exhaust the endangered species and the resource, grab more land under the guise of protecting our natural resources.
The 4th Ga-an rises from the flames in a ceremony older than any of the "old world" religions brought to the "new world". Terrified Christian missionaries described these "Ga-an" as "Devil Dancers". Ga-an scare evil spirits away, and they certainly sent those missionaries packing! |  |
It has taken academics more than 150 years to discover cholla cactus buds are an exceptionally rich source of calcium easily ingested by the elderly. Apaches knew that 150 years ago, but academics were too busy telling Apaches how to live their life, to listen or learn from "savages".
U.S. Army documents report that officers and enlisted personnel were surprised to discover that Apaches could add, subtract, multiply and divide faster, and more accurately, in their heads, than U. S. Army clerks could do using pen and paper, yet no one was interested in learning how Apaches could do that.
Then, as now, the mission and the money were devoted to making Apaches into white men.
White people consider Lockwood to be THE authority on Apaches; Lockwood concluded in 1935 that there was "no hope" for Apaches because despite all that had been done for them, they "refused" to accept Christianity.
Why would an Apache, born with direct access to Ussen, find a religion attractive which preaches that people are so despicable they need an heirarchy of agents and brokers to intercede on their behalf?
Why would any sensible person choose a religion which invokes "divine" excuses to turn brother against brother so they can be deprived of their property?
The common theme of "Old World" religions is that one person is favored by God over another person (or creature) because of parents, birthmarks, or any number of other emotional reasons. How could any rational person believe that, when even the dumbest artist knows it is the whole composition, not just one particular element, that makes a creation "live"?
According to "Old World" religions, David was just a lad when he slew Goliath with a stone. Their history claims Jeanne d'Arc was but 14 when she led the armies of France into Battle. As can be seen in photos of the U. S. Civil War and the Apache wars, the people actually doing the fighting and dying were teenagers. Just about every medical practitioner in the United States knows our Creator designed females to best give birth between the ages of 13-15, and that boys are "all washed up" for quality sperm production by age 19. Yet in most of the United States it is illegal for girls between the ages of 13-15 to even think about mating!
In many parts of Europe, teens at age 16 have finished school, have jobs, and meet members of the opposite sex at bars, bistros, gasthauses, etc., yet in the U.S.A., government and religious leaders claim no one is "mature" enough to make a rational decision until they have attained the age of 21! There is no religious nor legal precedent for such a conclusion; one can only conclude it is based on greed, i.e., people should learn to earn and pay tithes and taxes before they experience actually living life.
The TRUST ME government and "Old World" religions are fond of defending themselves against scrutiny by pleading "belief" rather than with facts. They believe what they want is best for everyone, especially those who support what they want!
It is a fact that for thousands of years, people have been killing and sacrificing each other in the name of that one true god in the "holy" city of Jerusalem.
Their God has had thousands of years to decide if Christians, Jews or Moslems got the right message, to decide which of the three represented "His" "chosen" people, to put an end to the senseless slaughter over something as trivial as who got the right message.
As of today, there has been no indication that any one of them has found particular favor with their God, leading "a reasonable man" to conclude that none of them got the right message; what they got is vanity.
THE authority was wrong; Apaches loved, and prospered, long before Christianity, and will probably love and prosper long after Christianity finds a better way to murder, plunder and profit in the name of their god.
The academics are clearly wrong. Before they arrived, Apaches knew every plant, every creature, every season, every nook and cranny, and understood how they all lived together in harmony. That knowledge kept them alive and together in a world which never ceases to change.
The TRUST ME government is clearly wrong to believe they can outwit "The People".
A major difference between the thinking of white people and the thinking of Apaches, is that Apaches know all men are created equal.
Ronnie Lupe, for many years Chairman of The White Mountain Apache Tribe, is what was formerly called a "Coyotero" Apache, and has proven to be just as cunning as his namesake.
TRUST ME officials (crooked governors et al), always thought they had him right where they wanted him, yet they squandered fortunes (i.e., taxpayer fortunes) without gaining a single blade of grass during the Lupe era.
Under Lupe leadership, Apaches still speak Apache, still practice their religion, and still believe all creatures are created equal. A Chairman is not greater, nor more important, than a basket weaver, a beef no greater, nor more important than a coyote, since each is a living creature in the web of life with a role to play.
That concept is wholly unacceptable to white people, who believe in a chain of command - even their heaven must have an heirarchy of angels, because there must always be someone to look down upon, someone to despise. Nothing can be appreciated for its intrinsic value, because its value is only in its service to others.
Like most Apaches, I can't imagine anyone being happy spending eternity bowing low on streets paved with gold, pearls or whatever, while I shouted "hosannah" to some superior.
Like the many spirits which wander Fort Apache Indian Reservation, my joy is found when an Apache smiles, that broad, natural expression of happiness which comes from living in harmony with one's environment. Hot, dry, impoverished, or bone-tired, an Apache smile lifts one's spirit over every hurdle in life, because it is genuine. There is no need for diplomatic smiles where all people are equal!
Other web sites provide precise details about hunting, fishing, camping and doing the sites on Fort Apache Indian Reservation, but what I found to be truly unique and wonderful was walking around where people lived and walked centuries before me, seeing things exactly as their owner left them like an open page of a book begging to be read.
Hours disappear wondering why one place was chosen in preference to a place not far away, or why this rock was chosen in preference to another, or what was the use of something, or calculating how many times it must have been used to show such wear.
To me, it was always a marvelous read to follow in the footsteps of the ancients, to contemplate and to imagine the life they led.
I easily recall that thrill of struggling to interpret a petroglyph then suddenly realizing I was actually looking at a calendar (the spirals measure lunar and solar cycles; like a sun dial, the shadow points to the correct time), still faithfully marking time long after its maker had departed .
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If you want to find petroglyphs, walk those ridges basking in sunlight! Most visitors to Fort Apache Historic District never notice the many wonderful petroglyphs among the rocks! Like looking for traffic signs at road intersections, knowing WHERE to look can make all the difference! |
I'll never forget cursing myself for following petroglyphs up a sheer precipice with the knowledge that if I lived long enough to get to the top, I'd probably kill myself trying to get back down, then discovering the purpose of the climb was not for the view, but to see a petroglyph intended to be seen only from the sky - and almost killed myself trying to take a photograph of it!
Now I travel Fort Apache Indian Reservation in my dreams because meeting all those TRUST ME people on the trail is like having a nest of turkey vultures between you and the exit of a cave: you don't want to breathe the same air, but you know you must if you want to survive.
So I put a little treasure aside as a reward to anyone who followed my footsteps, including a stamped postcard. Despite record numbers of 4x4s challenging every path, Arizona Site Stewards searching for looters, wardens looking for illegal activities, and TRUST ME people working as fast as they can to destroy the last natural library of native America, the postcard has not been mailed, so either the treasure is still there, or the BIA has buried it under another illegal hazardous waste dump.
Don't bother emailing me for directions to that, or anywhere else on FAIR; I made the mistake of showing a site in confidence to the BIA archaeologist, who then felt "duty bound" to report it, resulting in the site being looted and destroyed. Greed is never satisfied.
It is unfortunate that most people will never see an Apache smile, never experience a puberty rite, never visit a site where mountain spirits emerge from solid rock, never sit where their ancestors sat watching flocks of ducks float down the river at sunset whilst egrets, kingfishers, herons, ospreys, and eagles vie for the best fishing spot.
Perhaps it isn't the season for white people to pause and look at the world around them. If they spent a few hours watching antelope ground squirrels, they would soon recognize traits of friends and relatives in those squirrels, but white people seem more like a rattlesnake shedding its skin before an audience of hungry lizards; the rattlesnake is too busy thinking about all the dinnner being missed to enjoy its resurrection.
The wealth of the United States of America isn't in its natural resources - people, crops, nor ores. Every day, the wealth passes to people betting on the stockmarket over the internet.
The richest man in the world is Bill Gates, a mover and a shaker, busy shaping the world of tomorrow without any knowledge of the world today. He doesn't need to live in harmony with his neighbours; he doesn't even know who they are. He is an isolated man operating in an isolated world with the wealth to ensure it all happens exactly as it pleases him. All the people making millions on the internet - not profits from actually producing something, or for providing services, but "invisible" profits backed by nothing better than a rumour.
These people only know how to live in harmony with their computer, yet they are the people leading the destiny of the United States of America. Their choices are shaping your children's world.
By visiting Pine Ridge, in July, 1999, President Clinton became the first President of the United States to visit an Indian Reservation since President Roosevelt. He was astonished to see that within the borders of one of the wealthiest nations on earth many people were still living without running water, sewer systems, electricity, etc.
No matter what choices the President makes, Indian people will survive the changes because they have less to lose than anyone else.
President Clinton believed more gun control legislation will constrain murders and crime - despite the facts that
(a) most crimes are committed with guns previously stolen by drug addicts who don't care at all about other people's lives or laws(b) None of the laws restricting the manufacture, sale, transport nor use of knives have had the slightest impact on the number of stabbings or knife "accidents"
(c) David needed only one stone to slay Goliath, so regulating weaponry will never impact anyone intent on murder.
Almost every Apache home has a loaded gun and sharp knife at hand, but Apaches don't run around killing each other because they live in a real world where the living bleed real blood, where life can be seen fading from the eyes of a living creature.
When an Apache dies - or some favourite animal - personal possessions are destroyed, and that name is never spoken again so there will be nothing to impede the spirit on its path into the Spirit World.
Unlike the make-believe world of mainstream America, dead people and animals don't get up to play another role tomorrow; the dead are gone forever.
It isn't laws, it is respect for life, the understanding that finding harmony keeps the web of life stable whilst discord causes vibrations throughout the web, causing the weak and the precariously placed to lose their grip, and their balance.
It is the American character to search for some way to find superiority, e.g., "I am better than you because of religion, race, education, wealth, possessions, a more powerful car, a bigger gun", etc., etc., etc.
This destructive attitude turns on itself, so today's Americans cannot look at themselves, their family, or their friends without finding fault.
When I was stationed in Europe, American GIs went nuts over French girls. Physically, the only difference was when French girls look into a mirror, they identify their assets and emphasize them; American women look into a mirror, identify their "flaws" and try to conceal them (but usually succeed only in drawing attention to the flaw - and their attempts to conceal that flaw!).
The Apache mindset is to find harmony, i.e., to find what we have in common rather than what is different about us, an ideology totally opposed by religions - and the U.S. Department of Education, which insist children must be taught they are "special" because each one is white or black, male or female, can draw a picture with more crayons than others, or for an endless list of other reasons.
When "special" children discover they are not so special, they make a special effort to become special; in mainstream America, too many of them conclude the best method is suicide, or gunning down/blowing-up classmates and teachers who fail to recognize and applaud their "special" status.
America's teenagers, fed up with being treated as children year-after-year, are getting revenge - positively - by making the most of avenues open to them, and negatively, by killing people who fail to notice they are physically adults, or by destroying their livelihood, e.g., creating some malevolent computer virus, building/distributing pipe bombs and information, joining gangs and participating in hate groups, etc.
To a U. S. Senator, another six-year term is a period of short-term profitability.
To a 15-year old physically mature and intelligent teenager, six more years is one long-term living hell, during which - no matter what is accomplished, society must legally conclude the "child" cannot competently make rational choices or behave responsibly.
Not surprisingly, America's teenagers are concluding they must die before anyone notices that they once lived, a theory happily reinforced by the media. It took the death of another Indian for Indians to even be noticed by a President of the United States. (Most Americans know about Lewis and Clark, but "never heard" of Sacajewea!)
Every day, more and more Americans are turning away from real life to focus on the monitor behind the keyboard where life is so easily arranged according to personal (but not necessarily healthy) preferences.
There is no substitute for actually looking into the eyes of another living creature, but I hope you will make the time to look at the photo album and other pages to see Apaches, Apache culture, and the sacred land for yourself.
If anything at all registers "familiar" to you, you will understand that you are a part of the web of life, that seeking harmony prevents vibrations from shaking the web, and that can only result in greater stability in your life.
Much of teenage pregnancy, mischief and hooliganism result from teenagers trying to prove they don't need to be aged 21 to be a man, or a woman!
In Apache culture, physical maturity is recognized, but with it comes the responsibility of mature conduct. The Apache puberty rite lets everyone know "this girl is now a woman", but the girl has to demonstrate that she is a "good" woman, i.e., able to kill, butcher, tan the hide and cook the meat of an animal, build and maintain a clean home, demonstrate skill in a chosen craft, display knowledge of her clan and culture, etc. After tribal elders are satisfied she meets the required standard, she gets to demonstrate her stamina, self-discipline and ability to endure hardship with a GRUELING 4-day and night ceremony where sleep is mostly a memory.
 | The Apache Puberty Rite continues to bind Apaches to each other and to Mother Earth. In the distance, is a typical Apache "shadehouse" made in all natural materials. |
At the conclusion of this ceremony, no girl needs to "prove" she is a woman because everyone can see it in her eyes.
The U. S. Government prohibited the puberty rite for boys, and most tribes prohibit access to and/or photography of the ceremony, so this ceremony is a truly rare opportunity for young people to see how Native Americans "grow up".
It was my good fortune to do that yesterday, because tomorrow may be too late!
| The Photo of the Month: |
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| Four Apache faces (slideshow) |
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| Photos of everyday life on Fort Apache Indian Reservation. |
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| Apache puberty rite for a girl's "coming-of-age" |
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2009 Sunrise Ceremony Schedule |
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| Rodeo and cowboy life on Fort Apache Indian Reservation. |
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| Photos of petroglyphs on Fort Apache Indian Reservation. |
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| Photos of free spirits on Fort Apache Indian Reservation. |
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| Photos of birds on Fort Apache Indian Reservation. |
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| "A Mask for Halloween" campfire story |
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| Understanding Geronimo's power. |
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| The Government's Plan for Apache Extermination |
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