– “lands” by Nayyirah Waheed, Poet & Activist Kiona – Hopi Tribe, Liswungwa (Coyote Clan)
I owe a debt of gratitude to the following for their assistance: In addition, these ladies opened my eyes to the epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous women, which is addressed in this story. I also consulted a medicine man who oversees these ceremonies to ensure the integrity of its portrayal. I approached even writing about this rite with respect, reverence and only under the guidance of several Indigenous women to ensure I would not misrepresent this or other traditions. This rite of passage is sacred and pivotal in the life and development of many young Yavapai-Apache women. For the four days of the ceremony, the young girl is believed to be imbued with the power of Changing Woman, the first woman, according to the tribe’s origin story.īanned in the late 1800s by the US Government in an attempt to Westernize and assimilate Native people, such ceremonies became illegal, necessitating they be practiced in secret until 1978 when the American Indian Religious Freedom Act passed. The completion of this rite holds consequences for the entire community-blessings, health and longevity.
Na’íí’ees, which means “preparing her,” ingrains in young girls the qualities deemed important for adulthood. My story pulls from the Western Apache’s version of this rite of passage, generally known as the Sunrise Ceremony or Sunrise Dance. Some tribes mark the transition from girl to young woman through a puberty ceremony known by various names. Lennix, this story’s heroine, is a proud member of the Yavapai-Apache Nation, an American Indian tribe. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.ĭedicated to the warriors, dreamers & hustlers who change the world.
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