Ethnological Notes
Morris Opler
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Ethnological Note 1
That is, they conducted a ceremony over her.
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Ethnological Note 2
This motif of a person cured or aided by some
supernatural agency which thereupon instructs him in a ceremony, is a common one
in Apache ritualism and is especially characteristic of the Mountain Spirit
ceremonies.
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Ethnological Note 3
This sentence must not lead one to think that there is
but one Mountain Spirit ceremony and that this is its origin story. The old
woman's ceremony would be followed only by those to whom she [with approval of
her power] handed down her lore. Other shaman's and their descendants,
controlled Masked Dancer ceremonies obtained from the Mountain Spirits of other
localities, and all these rites, though they exhibited a definite common
pattern, were dissimilar in detail. Incidentally, this story evidences that
women as well as men were the recipients of significant supernatural experiences
and rites. [See also Chiricahua texts 34 and 35].
