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CNN Live At Daybreak

Jason's Journey: Rite of Passage for Apache Women

Aired July 02, 2001 - 07:10   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Jason takes us on another journey today. The rite of passage for young women is taken very seriously on the Apache Indian Reservation. It is a tradition that usually last four days, and it's not for the benefit of tourists.

CNN's Jason Bellini reports from Fort Apache, Arizona, as we continue our series "Jason's Journey."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's just past 5:30 in the morning when the sunrise hits J.T.'s face. She's the 14- year-old girl on the left. She's doing her long-anticipated sunrise dance, a coming-of-age ceremony for Apache girls, when, according to tradition, she holds the power to bless and the power to heal. She'll be dancing like this for another six hours today, and as the sun continues to rise, more friends, relatives, and people who know her family show up and join in.

REV. ED FRONSKE, CATHOLIC PRIEST: Apaches are deeply spiritual people -- very spiritual, very prayerful.

BELLINI: Father Ed Fronske is the priest at the local Catholic church. He never misses a sunrise dance, knows the rituals inside and out, and is welcome to offer church blessings, which fuse J.T.'s Catholicism with the ancient Apache traditions.

FRONSKE: This is the puberty rite for the young girl who's come of age -- and to pray that she comes into womanhood with a lot of prayers, a lot of strength, a lot of support, and a lot of love.

BELLINI: At a time when Apache youth live modern lives, the sunrise dance is a tradition that's thriving.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We turn around, make sure that we turn around and leave the area. We're not supposed to be allowed after we bring the food.

BELLINI: This is not a ceremony put on for tourists.

(on camera): During the summer months, sunrise dances are held nearly every weekend on the Apache Indian Reservation. The four-day long ceremonies bring young Apaches together with their family and their community. And even those who aren't into the religious aspect of it all still come for the party.

(LAUGHTER)

(voice-over): Charlene Lupe enjoys seeing all her friends at sunrise dances on weekends.

CHARLENE LUPE: Hello, Charlene, are you a TV woman?

BELLINI: She borrows my camera for a few minutes.

(on camera): How many of these have you been to?

LUPE: All my life. This is the barbecue pit where they're going to put meat in.

BELLINI (voice-over): The barbecue, huge cans of beef buried overnight with hot coals, gets opened up for the party after the seven-hour sunrise dance.

Not every young Apache woman gets to have a full-on sunrise dance. Not everyone is into the tradition, and not everyone can afford it.

(on camera): Why would they do all this for you?

J.T. NASHIO, APACHE TRIBE: I don't know.

BELLINI: You don't know why they do all this for you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because she's special. Because she's very special to us. And her womanhood -- it's helping her to be on the right side of the road.

BELLINI (voice-over): Many in the tribe say the tradition is making a comeback. Several new medicine men are in training, memorizing the elaborate chants required to make the magic happen.

And more and more young Apache women want to have a ceremony.

(on camera): What else are you going to do now the rest of your summer?

NASHIO: Train for a basketball tournament.

BELLINI: Then you'll probably come do a bunch more of these?

NASHIO: No.

BELLINI (voice-over): The older generation of Apaches is thrilled to see the younger ones, even dressed in T-shirts and jeans, involved in the tribe's heritage and enjoying it -- the sunrise, the perfect symbol for a ceremony celebrating the future of the Apache tribe.

Jason Bellini, CNN, Fort Apache, Arizona.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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