(narrator) Beneath White Mountain in New Mexico,
the Mescalero Apache Reservation
prepares for a coming of age ritual.
[chanting in Apache language]
Over the span of four days,
13-year old Dashina Cochise
will pass through ancient tests of strength,
endurance, and character,
that will make her a woman.
The Mescalero Apache hold the ritual
every fourth of July.
It's a grueling ordeal, intending to prepare girls
for the trials of womanhood.
-When she was a little girl, I knew this
is what I wanted to have for her.
(narrator) Dashina's mother, Olette, has spent
more than a year preparing for this week of ceremony.
Family members and friends will help her
feed and care for more than 50 guests.
The family's most important task
is selecting Dashina's medicine woman.
Zelda Yazza will instruct Dashina
in the ways of traditional Apache womanhood.
-Four ways. Into the back open.
(narrator) The four day ceremony
encapsulates the Apache creation story.
Dashina will move through the stages of life:
infant, child,
adolescent, woman,
culminating in an all night dance
that will test her endurance.
The ritual begins with the rising of the morning star.
The ceremony requires Dashina
to live by strict rules.
These four days mean little sleep,
scant food, and the need to set aside emotion.
Throughout the ordeal, she must wear
a face of stoic resolve.
-I feel very excited and happy,
even though I can't smile, but...
I'll try to show it in some way.
(narrator) Before Dashina joins the other girls,
she is blessed: dusted with pollen, the symbol of fertility.
[chanting in Apache language]
(narrator) The girls start their journey in a sacred tepee,
built by their male relatives.
[high-pitched voices howling]
-Let's go right now; they're putting the tepee up.
(narrator) The basket is filled with pollen
and other ceremonial objects.
As their ancestors did,
the girls run toward the rising sun,
circling the basket four times
to mark the four stages of life.
The fourth, and final, day brings Dashina
to the cusp of womanhood.
She ascends the hill to pray to the mountain spirits
for a long and successful life.
[musical chanting]
With darkness near, it's time to dance
beside the ceremonial fire.
[chanting and singing]
Dashina and the other girls will dance all night long,
much of the time, hidden in the big teepee.
[howling, singing and chanting]
More than 10 hours later, Dashina is still dancing.
The medicine men greet the sun,
a signal that the final test is near.
[rhythmic chanting]
The girls' faces are painted with white clay,
symbolizing the Goddess.
On their last circuit around the sacred basket,
the girls wipe away the symbolic clay.
With the falling of the tepee,
their rite of passage is complete.
Dashina receives her Apache woman's name;
Morning Star Feather.
-Morning Star Feather? -Morning Star Feather.
Everything went well; she's just gonna be a strong woman.
(narrator) Her community gathers,
acknowledging that this girl has earned the right
to live as a woman of the tribe.
As an Apache woman,
Dashina serves as a symbol of her culture,
renewing and protecting a way of life
that's in danger of vanishing.
[cheering]