Das Lan, in a spirit of more than usual devotion, began a series of prayers to the gods of Life, Peace, and Plenty, delivered as usual just as the sun appeared over the eastern mountains. On the fourth morning, with offerings of hádĭntĭn, he invoked the benediction of Kútĕrastan, the Creator, Hádĭntĭn Skhĭn, God of Health, Hádĭntĭn Nalín, Goddess of Crops, and of Chuganaái himself, the All-seeing Sun. As the fourth pinch of pollen wafted away on the breeze there appeared the vision, immediately beneath the sun, of a small bearded dwarf, less than three feet in height, who approached him, and said:
"I am a messenger sent by Kútĕrastan to talk to you. The Sun is my father; I have just left him to come to you. You are to inform all your people that a change is about to be made in their lives and in the nature of the whole world. In place of this life of strife and toil with little to eat, all, the white man as well as the Indian, will be taken to a place where all things grow without labor, and where there will be no rough, barren mountains, but instead broad valleys filled with grass, trees, corn, fruits, nuts, and all kinds of game in abundance. There, too, you will meet all your fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters and children who have gone before you from their homes, for they are now there. There no sickness or death will visit anyone. The old and feeble will become strong, the crooked straight, and the blind shall see. But to be taken, all must have faith, believing as one, and observe these instructions I am to leave with you. You are commissioned to instruct the people. Those who believe must adopt the dáiita ílhnaha, the cross and crescent, as a symbol of faith, for it represents the shape the new world will have and the road all must travel to reach it, and any who start on the journey without using this sign will be lost on the way. When the time comes to depart, I will return to lead you. A great cloud, open in the centre, will come down from above and surround us all, so that none shall see whither he goes. Until then those who would go must do as you bid them. All males, boys or men, must have caps of deerskin with the dáiita ílhnaha marked on them in beads on four sides, and two eagle feathers attached to the top, ready to wear on the journey. They must also have new shirts, leggings, and moccasins upon which this figure has been made in black and white.
Apache Village
"The girls and the women must likewise have new clothing, bearing the sacred symbol, ever in readiness. All their water bottles, burden baskets, and saddlebags must also bear the sign, and should any desire to ride horses, only the best, fleet and strong, branded upon the left buttock with the dáiita ílhnaha, may be taken. The permanent homes of all people living in bands under a chief must no longer be scattered, but must be built close together in long rows, that no time may be lost in assembling when our Great Father wills that you depart from this life to go to that where all is peace and plenty. Until that time, which is not far off, you must conduct yourselves as I have directed, discarding also all old medicine symbols for the new."
The plain Greek cross and the crescent have been used by the Apache as decorative and religious symbols from early times, but this recent adaptation of the combined form came as a sudden wave.
With an unusually strong personality, Das Lan had long been held in fear by those who knew him best, and with his story of the new messiah he soon became of great prominence in the tribe. Das Lan first made confidants of the leading spirits in the various bands, who in turn converted others to the new faith before public announcement was made. Having won the strongest men in the tribe through personal appeal to their vanity, the crafty Das Lan could now remain at home, enjoying the prosperous practice that grew out of his new cult.
Throughout the reservation those most deeply affected by the messiah belief have been appointed spies over the others. If any persist in the use of old medicine paraphernalia, they are reported at once and harassed by threats of plague, sickness, ill-luck, disaster, and even death, which Das Lan claims to be able to cause or to dispel at pleasure. Once the threat is made, nothing unwelcome can happen to one under the ban that is not immediately attributed, by all the medicine-man's disciples, to the disfavor of the gods; and nothing more potent is necessary to convert the unbeliever, for there is no Indian reared in the wilds who is not steeped in the belief that his gods are all-powerful in both causing and eradicating every ill.
About two years ago, on the Cibicu, a woman murdered her husband. She did not deny the act, but pleaded justification, alleging that her husband was guilty of unfatherly conduct toward his daughter. The local authorities were very sceptical of her defence, since the murdered man had always borne an excellent reputation among both Indians and whites; but no contradictory evidence could be adduced upon which to base an open trial, so the matter became quieted. After time had cancelled the crime in the mind of the guilty, it became known that the murder had been committed at the instigation of the scheming Das Lan, who found the deceased an obstacle to his prophetic assumptions, and under the guise of an order from Kútĕrastan had him despatched. Naturally fierce, strong, and bold, Das Lan has become more emboldened by his success as a prophet, and indirect threats of further crafty murders are sometimes uttered by the more fanatical members in each band when anyone presumes to defy his creed and will.
In 1903, throughout the White Mountain reservation, the Government farmers found it difficult to persuade the Apache to plant the usual corn. The following winter found them with a scant food supply, and Government aid was neccessary to relieve suffering. The cause of the failure to plant, none of the officials then knew; but to his tribesmen Das Lan had prophesied the probable advent of the messiah at that time—so why plant corn?
Another effect of Das Lan's prophecy is noted in the fact that although a few years ago the Apache houses were scattered far and wide, now there are many villages consisting of long straight rows of grass-thatched huts, bearing testimony to that deep-seated superstition which in the Apache apparently will never be eradicated.
Sand Mosaic - Apache
This pictures an Apache dry-painting employed in an attempt to cure a paralytic about the year 1882. The several figures are crude representations of masked deities—gáŭn. The wavy lines are lightning symbols. The patient entered upon the central figure, when the colored earths were gathered from about him and rubbed upon his body by masked men personating the gáŭn.
Puberty Rite
The ceremonial celebration of the arrival of the period of puberty in girls is more rigidly adhered to than any ancient religious rite or social custom in vogue among the Apache. By this ceremony the social position of the girl is established, and she is given assurance, on the eve of her womanhood, of a long, happy, active life. At this critical period, if the favor of the gods were not thus invoked in behalf of the girl, it might augur ill for her in after life.
This Nalín Bagúdzĭtash, or Girl Dance, is held always at dawn and is brought to a close when the sun shines full upon the participants. The ceremony is conducted by a woman selected from among the friends of the girl's parents for her comeliness, activity, and good character. So far as the performance of the successive parts of the ceremony is concerned, no special knowledge on the part of the leader is required, as a medicine-man is engaged to give the necessary directions and to sing the songs. The girl lies on a blanket upon the ground, and her sponsor, so to speak, straightens her arms and legs, rubs her joints, and otherwise simulates remoulding and beautifying her body. The girl then sits up, and those assembled dance and sing in a circle about her. An eagle feather and a white-shell bead are tied in her hair, and sacred pollen is rubbed on her face, in deference respectively to the bird of war and the god and goddess of health and fructification—Hádĭntĭn Skhĭn and Hádĭntĭn Nalín.
When the dancing is finished the sponsor takes a basket of corn