Start here
Apache Traditions: A Look at the Ceremonies and Rites of Passage
A general overview of Apache life transitions, from birth and childhood to the girl's puberty ceremony, marriage and death, with differences between groups.
Spirituality and Stories
Rites of Passage
Coming of age and life transitions among Apache peoples, at a public level.
Apache Tribe Traditions: The Significance of the Apache Rite of Passage
How training, endurance and the historical novice raiding custom marked a boy's path to adulthood in several Apache nations, and what maturity means today.
Apache Tribe Traditions: The Significance of the Apache Sunrise Ceremony
A public-level look at the Western Apache girl's puberty ceremony Na'ii'ees: its meaning, the role of sponsors and family, and its place in community life today.
Apache Tribe Traditions: The Significance of the Vision Quest
The vision quest is mainly associated with Plains nations. This article explains how Apache peoples understood power and personal spiritual experience differently.
Apache Vision Quests: A Rite of Passage
How pan-Indian stereotypes such as the vision quest get applied to Apache peoples, why this distorts the record, and how to find sources specific to each nation.
Related topics
More in spirituality and stories
Spiritual Leaders Medicine people and ceremonial leadership, described with restraint. Ceremonies and Sacred Life Ceremony, regalia and honoring the dead, at a public level only. Legends and Oral Tradition Apache stories, holy beings and the values they teach. Spiritual Beliefs Public, general overviews of Apache belief and its ties to the land. Oral Tradition Storytelling as history, teaching and living tradition. Ceremonial Life Coming-of-age ceremonies, healing knowledge, music and dance, described with restraint. Ceremonies and Dances Examined What is and is not part of Apache ceremonial life, including common mix-ups with other nations’ dances.