Реферат: Thunder Rides A Blck Horse Essay Research

Relatives an individual may receive through the patrilineal, or father’s side, are only

recognized as close, not blood relatives.

This is an example of the mythic present as part of the lived present in ritual life. It

is, for example, ritual for one’s sister or brother to chastise one another. This method for

tracing ancestry has occurred for many generations and an example from the book would

be how Stephanie could be considered to be related to Geronimo (31).

The third, and I feel, one of the more evident examples of mythic present the part

of the puberty ceremony in which the girl’s run around the baskets. Inside the girl’s baskets

are items which are considered to be symbolic of the four days of creation. This ceremony

occurs after the girl is considered to have reached woman-hood.

During the ceremony at certain points, pollen is to be placed in the mouths of the girls to speak properly. Farrer states, “the pollen blessing sequence replicates not only life’s living circle but also White Painted Woman’s journey” (50). This is a reference to a cultural heroine upon which this ceremony can be considered to be based on. During the actual ceremony, each girl is considered to be a reincarnation of White Painted Woman. Each girl is painted so that they may appear as a reincarnation of White Painted Woman. The girls run a series of times around the baskets, each turn representing a different stage of life. After each run the basket is placed closer to the ceremonial tent. This is symbolically saying that although the girl is becoming a woman, her parents still want her closer to home. Farrer also states, “the four runs that the girl’s make symbolize the four stages of life: infancy, childhood, adulthood, and old age” (51). At the end of the fourth run the girls are covered with food, candy, and money as a wish that the girls will never want anything. On the last night of the ceremony, there is a blessing of each girl. As during the first night of the ceremony, the girls run around the baskets four times but this time the baskets are placed further away from the ceremonial tent. This symbolizes the parents’ realization that the girl’s are now women. After running around the basket four times, the girls then run towards home taking off the paint on their faces. Farrer states, “when next they are seen, it is as Apache adults, no longer resembling White Painted Woman physically, but each about to embark on her role as the mother of a people” (88).

This actual ceremony is also very old and traditional. The book states that in the olden days, girls would immediately marry after the ceremony (89). This ceremony is so very symbolic that I cannot nearly include most of the examples. This event obviously is not known throughout most of the United States, which is another reason that this is an example of the mythic present. I feel most people would be shocked to watch the entire ceremony and their beliefs of Indian culture would change as well.

As mentioned earlier, the “mythic present” is the idea that the Apache are in many ways living in the same manner as they did hundreds of years ago despite the many ways society has changed over those years. These examples as well as many more are evidence that the Apache indeed do live in the mythic present. “The mythic present does a lot of work in today’s life” (25).

3a5

Farrer, Claire R.

1994 Thunder Rides A Black Horse Waveland Press Inc., Prospect Heights, IL