A caution about lists
Any list of “Apache dances” has to be read carefully. The Apache peoples are several nations, and the dances of the Western Apache, Chiricahua, Mescalero, Jicarilla, Lipan and Plains Apache are not identical. Names, meanings and rules differ, and many things are restricted. So this article describes categories, not an authoritative catalog.
Ceremonial dance
Ceremonial dances are part of religious life and are led by people who have been trained for the role. They are not entertainment, and the details are generally not discussed in public. At a general level, three points are widely documented.
Crown Dancers. Several Apache nations, including the Western Apache, Mescalero and Chiricahua, are known for dancers who wear tall, slatted headdresses and paint their bodies. They are commonly called Crown Dancers or Mountain Spirit Dancers, and the mountain spirits they represent are understood in a religious sense, not as characters in a performance. In Western Apache communities the spirits are called Gaan. Dancers are usually accompanied by a drum and singers, and they may appear in connection with the Sunrise Ceremony and with healing. A figure sometimes described as a clown or messenger may also appear. Beyond that, what the dancers mean, how they are prepared and which songs belong with them are matters for the communities themselves.
The Sunrise Ceremony. The girls’ coming-of-age ceremony includes dancing, singing and feasting over several days. It is held by Western Apache, Mescalero and Chiricahua families, with local variations, and it is sacred. Jicarilla Apache have their own ceremonies, which differ in form, and the Plains Apache and Lipan have their own histories with ceremony.
Other sacred dances. Some dances belong to healing or other ceremonies. The names, purposes and meanings of these are not publicly documented in detail and should not be guessed. There are also older traditions that are discussed in outsiders’ writing but not confirmed by communities, so published accounts need to be read cautiously.
Social dance
Social dances are open to the community and are the dances most people see if they are invited to a public event. They are usually performed in groups, often in lines or circles, accompanied by singers and a drum. The forms change from community to community, and the style at a Western Apache dance may not look like the style of a Plains Apache dance in Oklahoma. A separate article on social dances covers this in more detail, and the sensible rule is to follow local leads about when to join.
War dance and society dances
In the southern Plains, the Plains Apache and some other Apache communities have dance and society traditions shared with neighbors such as the Kiowa. The Apache war dance, for example, in some communities is a social or society dance now associated with veterans and community gatherings, and it should not be mistaken for a depiction of historical raiding. Dances of this type are tied to specific societies, and their rules are theirs to explain. Many Apache nations also honor veterans in dance, a more recent tradition.
Powwow and intertribal dance
Intertribal powwow dance includes forms such as men’s traditional, fancy, grass and women’s traditional and jingle dress styles. These came from the Plains and spread widely, and many Apache dancers take part. Powwow regalia and dance forms are not specifically Apache, though Apache dancers bring their own designs, beadwork and family traditions. Powwows are open public events where dancing is shared, with MCs explaining the rules.
Dances often wrongly attributed to Apache
Some dances are repeated in popular accounts as if they were old Apache traditions. The Sun Dance and Ghost Dance were largely Plains traditions, and the story of the Sun Dance and Apache involvement is limited and varied, as is the Ghost Dance and Apache history. The Apache rain dance myth, an image of a standard dance performed on demand for outsiders, is a stereotype, not a record of an ordinary ceremony. When a source offers a tidy list of dances with dramatic meanings, it is likely drawing from stereotype.
Differences between groups
In brief, differences between nations include the following.
- Western Apache. Crown Dancers, Sunrise ceremonies, social dances and fairs; the fiddle also belongs to this group.
- Chiricahua and Mescalero. Shared traditions of Crown Dancers and the Sunrise Ceremony, with Mescalero public feasts in early summer.
- Jicarilla. Their own ceremonies and feast days, with distinct dance forms and a history linked to both Plains and Pueblo neighbors.
- Plains Apache and Lipan. Plains-influenced social and society dancing for the Plains Apache; the Lipan have a history of displacement and their descendants are rebuilding community life.
Even these summaries are simplifications. A reader who wants to know what a specific dance is, who may watch it and what it means should ask the nation that owns it.