Sunrise Ceremony Research Paper

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Sunrise Ceremony - A girl’s coming of age Long ago in some races when a young girl became a woman it was marked not silently as it is today, but with great celebration. For those few days she was held in great esteem, not only for her ability to now create and give life, but also the great burden she was now handed. These ceremonies would prepare her for her role in the community, not as a child but now a full woman. In modern times these ceremonies are making a comeback. One such place is among the Western band of Apache. To celebrate a girl’s coming of age the tribe holds what is called a Na’ii’ees. This is translated to mean “preparing” or “getting her ready”. This is not just a privet family ceremony, but one that the entire tribe takes …show more content…
The Sun Rise Ceremony was considered an illegal act as a result of this banning and almost died out. It remained alive though due to it being practiced in secret, getting passed down silently over time. This was not the only ceremony that was banned. The Sun Dance and the infamous Ghost Dance that so scared the U.S government and resulted in the Great Massacre of Wounded Knee we also the result of this banning. It wasn’t until almost 1980 when the American Indian Religious Freedoms Act was passed under Jimmy Carter were tribes able to bring their ceremonies out of the shadows and back into the light again. ("Religious Freedom for Native …show more content…
After entering each girl sees a basket that is filled with pollen and other sacred objects. As their ancestors before them did, they will run towards the rising sun going around the basket four times to symbolize the four stages of life. By the fourth and final day Dachina is on the brink of woman hood and she will to a hill to pray to the mountain spirits that reside there to ask for a long and successful life. When darkness starts to arrive, it signals that it time to dance beside the ceremonial fire. This dancing will continue all night for the girls and after ten hours the Dachina is still dancing. The medicine man will greet the rising sun and signal that the last test is at hand, he will paint the girls with white clay that represents the goddess and on the girls last turn around the basket they will wipe away the clay, the lodge is taken down and the rite is complete, each girl will receive her woman’s name of Moring Star Feather and is now counted among the women of the tribe. ("Apache Girl's Rite of
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