Text & photos : Ninka North
Apache Crown dancers are also known as “Mountain spirit dancers” – “White Moutain dancers” – and “Gaan dancers”. They live in Whiteriver, Arizona. Their original name “Apachu”, means “enemy” in the Zuñi language. One of this people’s most famous warriors, Geronimo is known for his rebellion and raids against the United States1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geronimo.
The Apachus come from a subgroup of original Siberian Athabaskans, who migrated to Canada and Alaska through the Bering Strait 10,000 years ago, before moving to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.
Polytheists and animists, they believe in the Great Spirit Usen, the Giver of Life, and his envoys on earth, the Gaans.
They perform dances, their heads covered with crosses painted with hummingbirds, flowers, clouds or eagles, for certain ceremonies. Their faces are masked under a hood, with silver beads suggesting their eyes.
Embodying the spirits of the mountains, they dance to the sound of songs and drums, accompanied by a clown. Their torsos are painted with ritual symbols and crosses, girded at the waist with leather skirts, they brandish sticks and perform figures to ward off evil. During the pow wow, the group’s leader, Joe Tohonnie Jr, played
the drum while the dancers performed the ritual dances.
Further information on PBS Learningmedia2https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/natam.arts.dance.abapache/native-american-culture-about-apache-dances/.