Mescalero Apaches
and the Mythic Present
Brian Lamar
ANT 221-001
Keith Stephenson
October 16, 1995
I feel that what Claire Farrer means by living
in the "mythic present" is
that although most Indian culture is perceived long to have been
different, it is in fact very live and
active today. I will give specific
examples from her book, Thunder Rides a Black Horse, to support my arguments of
what the "mythic present"
actually means and list many examples of
events that could be considered to be in the "mythic present."
First I will define the mythic present in the
terms that Claire Farrer actually uses in
her book.
She states, "For the Indians I know on several reservations in
theAmerican West and Southwest, life is lived in what I term the
"mythicpresent." What
mainstream Americans consider to have happened longago, if it happened at
all,is real and present during everyday life onreservations" (2).
Farrer obviously
feels that there are many misconceptions among the mainstream Americans about
the Indians, inparticularly the Mescalero Apache. I feel she uses her book primarily as actual
proof that in many ways the Indians' culture is the same now in thought, song,
narrative, everyday life, religion, and in rituals as many generations before
the present.
The three major examples of life in the
"mythic present" that I will primarily be discussing are the
astronomical concept of the Mescalero Apache, the kin-system that the Apache
implore, and lastly the Apache girl's puberty ceremony. Although I have only selected three examples,
there are obviously many more such as the cultural heroine, White Painted
Woman, the creation process in which Apache people are seen as the weakest link
in the being-chain, and reciprocity, among others.
The first example of the "mythic
present" I will discuss is the
astronomical concept that the Apache Indians have and how they apply
it. This also includes their
"Indian time". The Apache
Indian Calendar is not nearly as artificially constructed as our Western
version. Only after reading this book
did I realize how artificial "our" calendar actually is. Although this calendar was designed like most
others to be the time between which it takes for new moons to appear, it is
actually not even close. It takes about
29 1/2 days between moons while for some reason about half of our months have
30 days, nearly half have 31 and another month has either 28 or 29.
The Apache calendar is in many ways much more structured. Farrer states, "Indian time . . . is
governed by participants rather than a clock; it is when things and participants
are all present and ready. That time may
be ahead of or behind clock time" (1994:5). The Apache day, instead of starting at
midnight as in our society, starts whenever the sun comes up, if at all. Generally, exact times are not set for any
reason or are needed to be. I feel a lot
of their time schedule has evolved instinctively. That is, Apache Indians generally eat, sleep,
and wake up at approximately the same times day after day. There has never been a need for anything to
happen, say, for example, at exactly 6 or 11 p.m. and I doubt that the Apache
will ever completely adapt to a different calendar for this reason. The Apache have been using the same time
structure and schedule for many generations.
Their society has never become nearly as complex as our Western society and hopefully it never will
be.
There are many examples from the book of their
abilities to tell time without watches
or clocks. One example is the morning of the first day
of the ceremony in which Bernard
awakens the
author before sunrise to prepare for the many events that would occur during
the day. Farrer states, "as usual, his watchless
and clockless time sense wasimpeccable, for we would have just enough time to
do all that must be donebefore he moved into the ceremonial arena for the start
of this July'sceremonial" (41).
I feel. by saying "as usual", she
means that this is a frequent occurrence of their amazing ability to
"feel" what time it is or know the amount of time needed to
accomplish a certain event. There is
also the instance towards the end of the book in which Bernard tries to teach
the author Apache astronomy. He
explained how the Apache can look at the constellations and planets and
determine what time it is, even though as the seasons change, so do the times. This was difficult for the author to
understand or learn even though she spent a great deal of time at the reservation over many years. She says, "to be a competent star
watcher at Mescalero requires years of watching until the sky becomes as
familiar as the back of one's own hand" (99).
There are many other examples of the Apache ability to tell time using
astronomical and instinctive methods.
This process has been employed by
the Apache for hundreds of years and is an example of the mythic present
involved in thought and application.
The second example of the mythic present is the
Apache kin-system. Their method of
tracing ancestry is matrilineal, meaning only traced through their
mothers. This method differs from that
of the western world in which kinship is
traced through both mother and father, called bi-laterally.
This system also applies to Apache customs. The
Mescalero homes and their
contents belong
to women; only sisters and brothers in
ascending generations are allowed
to chastise or
discipline children (30). Farrer also
states, "since sisters and brothers are
always in the
same family, it is the mother's brothers who are the disciplinarians, those
with
authority"
(30). One's siblings and first cousins
through their mothers are all called "sister"
and
"brother" in equivalent
English terms. A girl's matrilineal
family is expected to help
with the cooking
during the puberty ceremony.
While Apaches are aware of bi-lateral kinship
and how it is dominant in most other
societies, they still consider their "blood
relatives" to be related through their mothers.
Relatives an
individual may receive through the patrilineal, or father's side, are only
recognized as
close, not blood relatives.
This is an example of the mythic present as
part of the lived present in ritual life.
It
is, for example,
ritual for one's sister or brother to chastise one another. This method for
tracing ancestry
has occurred for many generations and an example from the book would
be how Stephanie could
be considered to be related to Geronimo (31).
The third, and I feel, one of the more evident
examples of mythic present the part
of the puberty
ceremony in which the girl's run around the baskets. Inside the girl's baskets
are items which are
considered to be symbolic of the four days of creation. This ceremony
occurs after the
girl is considered to have reached woman-hood.
During the ceremony at certain points, pollen
is to be placed in the mouths of the girls to speak properly. Farrer states, "the pollen blessing
sequence replicates not only life's living circle but also White Painted
Woman's journey" (50). This is a reference to a cultural heroine
upon which this ceremony can be considered to be based on. During the actual ceremony, each girl is
considered to be a reincarnation of White Painted Woman. Each girl is painted so that they may appear
as a reincarnation of White Painted Woman.
The girls run a series of times around the baskets, each turn
representing a different stage of life.
After each run the basket is placed closer to the ceremonial tent. This
is symbolically saying that although the girl is becoming a woman, her parents
still want her closer to home. Farrer
also states, "the four runs that the girl's make symbolize the four stages
of life: infancy, childhood, adulthood,
and old age" (51). At the end of
the fourth run the girls are covered with food, candy, and money as a wish that
the girls will never want anything. On
the last night of the ceremony, there is a blessing of each girl. As during the first night of the ceremony,
the girls run around the baskets four times but this time the baskets are
placed further away from the ceremonial tent.
This symbolizes the parents' realization that the girl's are now
women. After running around the basket
four times, the girls then run towards home taking off the paint on their
faces. Farrer states, "when next
they are seen, it is as Apache adults, no longer resembling White Painted Woman
physically, but each about to embark on her role as the mother of a
people" (88).
This actual ceremony is also very old and
traditional. The book states that in the
olden days, girls would immediately marry after the ceremony (89).
This ceremony is so very symbolic that I cannot nearly include most of
the examples. This event obviously is
not known throughout most of the United States, which is another reason that
this is an example of the mythic present.
I feel most people would be shocked to watch the entire ceremony and
their beliefs of Indian culture would change as well.
As mentioned earlier, the "mythic
present" is the idea that the
Apache are in many ways living in the same manner as they did hundreds of years
ago despite the many ways society has changed over those years. These examples as well as many more are
evidence that the Apache indeed do live in the mythic present. "The mythic present does a lot of work
in today's life" (25).
Bibliography
Farrer, Claire R.
1994 Thunder
Rides A Black Horse Waveland Press Inc., Prospect Heights, IL
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