阿帕奇族女孩的成人禮

Beneath White Mountain in New Mexico， the 1）Mescalero Apache reservation prepares for a 2）coming-of-age ritual. Over the span of four days， 13-year-old Dasheena Cochise will pass through ancient tests of strength， endurance and character that will make her a woman.

The Mescalero Apache hold the ritual every 4th of July. It’s a 3）grueling 4）ordeal， intended to prepare girls for the trials of womanhood.

The family’s most important task is selecting Dasheena’s medicine woman. Zelda Yaza will instruct Dasheena in the ways of traditional Apache womanhood.

The four-day ceremony 5）encapsulates the Apache creation story. Dasheena will move through the stages of life-infant， child， adolescent， woman-6）culminating in an all-night dance that will test her endurance.

The ritual begins with the rising of the morning star.

The ceremony requires Dasheena to live by strict rules. These four days mean little sleep， scant food and the need to set aside emotion. Throughout the ordeal she must wear a face of 7）stoic resolve.

Dasheena： I feel very excited and happy. I know I can’t smile， but I’ll try to show it in some way.

Before Dasheena joins the other girls， she is blessed， dusted with 8）pollen， the symbol of fertility.

The girls start their journey in a sacred 9）teepee built by their male relatives. The basket is filled with pollen and other ceremonial objects. As their ancestors did， the girls run toward the rising sun， circling the basket four times to mark the four stages of life.

The fourth and final day brings Dasheena to the 10）cusp of womanhood. She ascends the hill to pray to the mountain spirits for a long and successful life.

With darkness near， it’s time to dance beside the ceremonial fire. Dasheena and the other girls will dance all night long， much of the time hidden in the big teepee.

More than ten hours later Dasheena is still dancing.

The medicine men greet the sun， a signal that the final test is near.

The girls’ faces are painted with white clay symbolizing the goddess. On their last circuit around the sacred basket the girls wipe away the symbolic clay.

With the falling of the teepee their rite of passage is complete. Dasheena receives her Apache woman’s name， Morning Star Feather.

Her community gathers， acknowledging that this girl has earned the right to live as a woman of the tribe. As an Apache woman， Dasheena serves as a symbol of her culture， renewing and protecting a way of life that’s in danger of vanishing.

新墨西哥州的白山下，阿帕奇族梅斯卡勒羅保留地的族人們正在準備一場成人儀式。在四天的時間里，13歲的達希娜·科奇斯將會接受多項古老的試煉，考驗她的力量、耐性和品格。通過這些試煉，她將從一個女孩變為一個女人。

梅斯卡勒羅人在每年的七月四日都會舉行這項儀式。這是一場嚴酷的考驗，旨在讓女孩們為女性生命中的種種艱難困苦做好準備。

家人們最重要的任務就是為達希娜選好女巫醫。澤爾達·雅扎將指導達希娜如何做一名傳統的阿帕奇族女人。

四天的典禮概括了阿帕奇族關于生命誕生的故事。達希娜將在典禮中經歷生命的四個階段--嬰兒、孩童、少女、女人--這項儀式將在一場通宵達旦的舞中達到高潮，這場舞將考驗她的耐力。

隨著晨星冉冉升起，儀式拉開了序幕。

在整個典禮的過程中，達希娜都要遵守嚴格的規則。這四天意味著幾乎不能睡眠和進食，并且要暫時摒棄七情六欲，由始至終她都必須保持堅忍剛毅的表情。

達希娜：我非常激動，非常開心。我知道不可以笑出來，但我會用其他方式來表達我的興奮之情。

澤爾達在達希娜身上撒滿了象征多子多孫的花粉，以示賜福，隨后達希娜與其他女孩子匯合。

女孩們的男性親屬搭建起一個神圣的圓錐形帳篷，她們在帳篷中開始了成人禮。一個籃子里裝滿了花粉和其他的儀式用品。像祖輩一樣，女孩們奔向初升的太陽，繞著這個籃子跑四圈，此舉標志著生命中的四個階段?！?br>