Derek Stavarski's List: ART Apache

• Life and conscious aims are attributed to natural forces as well. The Apache  conception of thunder will serve as an example
• Thunder is thought of as people and thunderclaps are the voices and shouting of  these people.
• Lightning is the arrow of the thunder people and these arrows reach the earth as  the elongated flints which the Apache find throughout  their territory.
• At one time the thunder people hunted for the Apache and slew deer for them with  these arrows. But those days are past and now the arrows of the thunder people  are reserved for any who act disrespectfully to the thunder people or otherwise  disobey the injunctions of Apache life.

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• The ceremonial life of the Chiricahua and Mescalero Apache reflects that close  relation to the immediate natural surroundings which we have already noted. It  is thought    that supernatural power pervades the world and that if the individual can so  arrange matters that some of it is available to guide, warn, and advise him, he  will elude many dangers and enjoy many advantages
• It is characteristic  of his thinking that the Apache should conceive of  this force as reaching him through the instrumentality of the objects with which  he is most familiar. In former days almost every Apache of these two tribes  could be expected to have supernatural experiences in which animals, plants, or  natural forces offered him ceremonies.

• When an Apache shaman is asked to conduct his rite, a cross of pollen must be  traced on his moccassins or a cigarette must be laid on his foot by the  suppliant. Before he can begin, ceremonial gifts, usually four in number, must  be tendered him
• What these are to be has been explained to the shaman when he obtained his  power, and usually include such objects as abalone shell (if a woman is to be  cured), turquoise (if the patient is a man), downy eagle feathers, unblemished  buckskin, and the like
• These are considered payment to the power and not to the shaman. After the  ceremony is concluded the shaman receives as his fee a horse, a robe, a quantity  of food, or something equally practical.

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