Songs of the Girls' Puberty Ceremony, Chiricahua Apache Text excerpted from Chiricahua Apache Texts, with Ethnological Notes |
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| 40.1. |
They have made the tipi poles of galena,
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| 40.2. |
| 40.3. |
| 40.4. |
| 40.5. |
| 40.6. |
| 40.7. |
| 40.8. |
| 40.9. |
| 40.10. |
| 40.11. |
| 40.12. |
| 40.13. |
| 40.14. |
| 40.15. |
| 40.16. |
 | Songs of the Girls' Puberty Ceremony, Chiricahua Apache Text |  |
They have made the tipi poles of galena,
(40.1)[1]
K'eeshchí sahde 'ájílaa,
Chí sahde 'ájílaa,
Dleeshí sahde 'ájílaa,
Jígonaa'áí bitł'óle sahde 'ájílaa,
Bik'ehgózhóní,
Ts'is'ahnaagháí! Bik'ehgózhóní.
Bíká'ájił'iͅiͅ.
K'eeshchí sahde 'ájílaa,
Chí sahde 'ájílaa,
Dleeshí sahde 'ájílaa,
Jígonaa'áí bitł'óle sahde 'ájílaa,
Bik'ehgózhóní,
Ts'is'ahnaagháí! Bik'ehgózhóní.
Bíká'ájił'iͅiͅ.
They have made the tipi poles of galena,[2]
They have made the tipi poles of red clay,
They have made the tipi poles of white clay,
They have made the tipi poles of the rays of the sun,
Its power is good,[3]
Long life! Its power is good.
They customarily make it so for her.[4]
They have made the tipi poles of red clay,
They have made the tipi poles of white clay,
They have made the tipi poles of the rays of the sun,
Its power is good,[3]
Long life! Its power is good.
They customarily make it so for her.[4]
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(40.1) Linguistic Notes
1. The first line is literally: "Galena / tipi poles / they have made them so."
2. jígonaa'áí bitł'óle 'the rays of the sun'. Literally: 'the sun, its ropes'.
3. bik'ehgózhóní 'its power is good'. bik'eh 'its power' plus the relative form of gózhóͅ 'it is good'.
4. ts'is'ahnaagháí 'long life'. ts'is'ah 'long time', cf. 'óós'ah 'later', a while' and 'is'ah, synonymous with ts'is'ah. naaghá 'he goes about, he lives'.
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Ethnological Note 2
////This song is sung by the shaman when the structure in which the girl's adolescent rite is to take place is being made. The song refers to the bringing together of the poles of the ceremonial tipi. As is the usual procedure in Apache ceremonies the objects used in the rite are referred to in terms of substances sacred to the natives. Therefore, the poles are likened to galena, red paint, white clay, and the sun's rays. Thus it is believed that both the ceremonial tipi and the girl's body are blessed.
////"They" refers to the culture hero, Child of the Water, and his mother, White Painted Woman.
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Ethnological Note 3
"Its" refers to the ceremonial tipi. Supernatural power is obtained by the Apache from various animals, trees, plants, natural phenomena, and a number of supernaturals. Its benefits are realized when the directions of these sources of power are obeyed. In this particular context, it is the tradition that White Painted Woman, the mother of the culture hero, gave directions for the performance of this ceremony to the Apache. If these directions in regard to the building of the ceremonial tipi and the performance of all other elements of the rite were faithfully carried out, she promised to confer long 1ife and good fortune upon the girl who had come to womanhood. This is an allusion to the beneficial "power" of the tipi when it is properly erected.
| Songs of the Girls' Puberty Ceremony, Chiricahua Apache Text | |