no!' 76]^" ^^^^ ^^ CHANGING WOMAN — BASSO 129 



Na ih es is performed alone (as opposed to being combined with 

 a second ceremony called nja njleesh, meaning 'she is painted') in only 

 two other communities on the Fort Apache Reservation besides 

 Cibecue — Cedar Creek and Carrizo. The two medicine men from 

 Cedar Creek who know na ih es are thought well of in Cibecue. 

 They are highly respected for their strong power, which, in this case, 

 refers to their ability to make na ih es effective. On the other hand, 

 there is only one medicine man in Carrizo who knows the ceremony, 

 and, for reasons which I was unable to ascertain, he is much less 

 popular. Consequently, for the past few years, na ih es has been 

 performed in Cibecue by Cedar Creek medicine men. Cibecue 

 Apaches are quick to say that the Cedar Creek version of na ih es 

 differs little from the way their own used to be performed. There are 

 only a few minor variations and these are attributed to the medicine 

 man's individual style, rather than to significant regional differences 

 in ideology. Said one man from Cibecue: 



They [the Cedar Creek people] do it almost like we do. When LA [a Cedar 

 Creek medicine man] comes over here it's not hardly any different from the man 

 who sang here. Some of the songs are a little different but not many. It means 

 all the same thing. It's never bothered people here. They know that LA sure ^ 

 has got power. Besides, LA was born in Cibecue. He just learned [the songs 

 for iia ih es] from a Cedar Creek medicine man. 



Once a medicine man has been chosen by the ndeh guhyaneh it 

 remains for the girl's father to visit him and ask him to sing. This 

 may be done as long as a month after the girl's initial menstruation, 

 but is usually taken care of much sooner. First, the girl's father 

 acquires certain items to be given to the medicine man. These 

 include the tail feather of an eagle, to the base of which a turquoise 

 is attached with deer sinew, and a small container of holy powder. 

 With these in hand, and enough money to pay the medicine man's fee, 

 the father sets out early in the morning. He must arrive at the medi- 

 cine man's camp before sum-ise. 



I got there real early and waited in my pickup until the sun came up. I didn't 

 see anything so I just sat there. Then his wife came out of her wickiup and 

 threw some water away she had in a cooking pot. She saw the truck but she 

 didn't say anything and went back inside. Then the medicine man came out 

 and went behind the wickiup to make water. When he came back I got out of 

 my truck and went to where he was. I took all the stuff with me that I would 

 give him. He had sung na ih es for my daughter 4 years ago, so I already knew 

 him and how much he would charge. When I got to where he was sitting he held 

 out his left hand, inside [palm] up. He held it like this and I opened the jar and 

 took out some powder. I made a cross with it on his hand in the four directions. 

 Then I put the feather on his hand with the blue stone [turquoise] where the cross 

 came together. Then after I did this he took the feather and put it in his pocket. 

 Then I took out $50 from my wallet and put it in bis hand. Then I said, "Will 

 you sing na ih es for my daughter?" He said, "Yes." Then I told him what day 



