No.^TOr' ^^^" ^^^^ ^^ CHANGING WOMAN — BASSO 153 



medicine man (who has stopped singing), the girl takes her place on 

 the buckskin in front of the medicine man and his drummers. She 

 faces east, toward the rising sun. Her maternal relative follows her 

 example, standing on her left. The crowd draws closer. Na ih es 

 is about to begin. 



PHASES 



As performed in Cibecue today, na ih es is made up of eight distinct 

 parts or "phases." Each phase has a unique meaning, name, and 

 set of ritual actions; each is initiated, perpetuated, and terminated 

 by a group of songs, or "song set." The Apaches do not conceive 

 of na ih es as an unbroken continuum, but rather tend to emphasize 

 and stress its different parts. 



Each medicine man arranges the 32 or more goh jon sinh' songs 

 which comprise na ih es to fit his own stylistic scheme. This pro- 

 duces great variation as to the number of songs in a given phase. 

 But the sequence of phases is a stable pattern from which there is 

 rarely any deviation. For example, one medicine man may sing 12 

 songs in phase I, while another may sing 8 or 16. Nevertheless, 

 phase I always precedes phase II. In short, regardless of the number 

 of songs in a phase, the order of the phases never changes. 



I. BIHL DE NIL KE 



('all alone, she dances') 



During the first phase of na ih es, which may consist of 8, 12, or 16 

 songs, the pubescent girl dances on the buckskin with her companion.^* 

 In all respects, the method of dancing is identical to that at bi keh ihl 

 ze' . The dancers bounce Hghtly, first on one foot, then on the other, 

 always in time to the drums. With each beat, the girl strikes the 

 bottom of her cane on the buckskin, causing the bells attached to the 

 cross thong to jingle loudly. Her face is expressionless, her eyes 

 fixed on the buckskin. At the end of each song, the medicine man 

 and his drummers pause briefly, while the older woman wipes the girl's 

 face Mdth a handkerchief or smooths her hair. 



The songs sung in phase I deal primarily with the Western Apache 

 Creation or, as the people say, "when the earth was set up." Chang- 

 ing Woman is mentioned frequently. With his songs, the medicine 

 man asks for Changing Woman's power (goh jon sinh' di yih) on behalf 

 of the pubescent girl. Apparently, there is no given point (or song) 

 at which this force enters her. It is understood, however, that she 



» I attended one na ih es at which phase I lasted for 23 songs. Everyone I questioned admitted this to 

 be highly unusual. The reason discovered later was that na ihl em, who makes her appearance at the begin- 

 ning of phase II, was sick. Thus, It was felt necessary to continue phase I until she recovered. Through- 

 out, the girl danced In place with her maternal relative- 



