G AH-TAD GIRL G KLIZZIE GOAT G JEHA GUM H TSE-GAH HAIR H CHA HAT H LIN HORSE I TKIN ICE I YEH-HES ITCH I A-CHI INTESTINE J TKELE-CHO-G JACKASS J AH-YA-TSINNE JAW J YIL-DOI JERK K JAD-HO-LONI KETTLE K BA-AH-NE-DI-TININ KEY K KLIZZIE-YAZZIE KID L DIBEH-YAZZIE LAMB L AH-JAD LEG L NASH-DOIE-TSO LION M TSIN-TLITI MATCH M BE-TAS-TNI MIRROR M NA-AS-TSO-SI MOUSE N TSAH NEEDLE N A-CHIN NOSE O A-KHA OIL O TLO-CHIN ONION O NE-AHS-JAH OWL P CLA-GI-AIH PANT P BI-SO-DIH PIG P NE-ZHONI PRETTY Q CA-YEILTH QUIVER R GAH RABBIT R DAH-NES-TSA RAM R AH-LOSZ RICE S DIBEH
COW D BE DEER D CHINDI DEVIL D LHA-CHA-EH DOG E AH-JAH EAR E DZEH ELK E AH-NAH EYE F CHUO FIR
According to the Ndee from the beginning Is dzán naadleeshe', Changing Woman lived alone. One day she received inspiration to go up on a hill and build a wickiup with four poles, where the first rays of the sun would strike in the morning. Is dzán naadleeshe' went inside and lay there and as the sun came up, the sun shone between her legs. One of his rays went into her. This caused her first menstrual period. After that she became pregnant. She conceived a son and called him Nayé nazgháné; (Slayer of Monsters). Four days later she was impregnated by Water- Old Man and gave birth to Túbaadeschine (Born of the Water-Old Man). These were the first Apache people.
From early spring to late fall, Apache girls reaching maturity are honored by their tribe with the Sunrise Dance. This ancient ritual is a test of a girl's endurance and discipline, and a celebration of her womanhood. The Sunrise Dance typically lasts four days. During this time, the girl being honored is dancing almost constantly, to the accompaniment of over 100 songs. Although she is assisted by her godparents and friends, it's a difficult task. Each stage of the ceremony is precisely choreographed, and the girl is not permitted to falter. Beverly Malone, a member of the White Mountain Apache Tribe, is with the Fort Apache Cultural Center in Arizona. She tells us about the teachings contained in the songs and the symbols of the ceremony.
The Apaches are commonly known for their incredible endurance and warfare skills. First arriving in the Southwest sometime between A.D.1000 and 1400, the Apaches carved out a home on the south side of the Rocky mountains. As early as 1540, the Apaches confronted Coronado in eastern New Mexico and were called "vaqueros." By the 1600's, they were also living in Arizona. Between 1656 and 1675, the Apaches continuously raided Spanish Settlers and Pueblo Indians in what is now known as New Mexico.
Gouyen, meaning "Wise Woman," was born into Chief Victorio's Warm Springs Apache band around 1880. One day, while the group was resting at Tres Castillos, New Mexico, it was attacked by Mexicans. When the offensive was over, seventy-eight Apaches had been murdered and only seventeen had escaped, including Gouyen and her young son, Kaywaykla. Her baby daughter, however, was murdered and shortly afterwards her husband was killed in a Comanche raid while visiting the Mescalero Apaches.
A legendary tale is told about the revenge of Gouyen. One night following her husband's death, she put on her buckskin puberty ceremony dress and left the camp carrying a water jug, dried meat, and a bone awl and sinew for repairing her moccasins. She was looking for the Comanche chief who had killed her husband. Finally, she found him engaged in a Victory Dance around a bonfire with her husband's scalp hanging from his belt. Gouyen slipped into the circle of dancers, seduced the chief, and killed him, avenging her husband's death. Then she scalped him, cut his beaded breechcloth from his body and tore off his moccasins. She then returned to her camp to present her in-laws with the Comanche leader's scalp, his clothing and his footwear.
The primitive dress of the men was deerskin shirt, leggings, and moccasins. They were never without a loin-cloth. A deerskin cap with attractive symbolic ornamentation was worn. The women wore short deerskin skirts and high boot top moccasins.
