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NPC Indigenous Community Guide: Important Dates | Calendars | Ceremonies

A guide to assist new NPC community members in understanding the cultures of the Sovereign Nations of the Navajo (Dine'), Hopi (Hopitu) and Apache (N'Dee).

 

Below are some time frames for common ceremonies that tribal members actively participate in. Due to the sacred nature of each ceremony, detailed information about the purpose of each ceremony is not documented here.

Dine'

Funeral Ceremonies = 4 days    

Funeral prayers must be chanted for 4 days for the soul to cross into the afterlife.

'Anaa'jí 'Ndááʼ Ceremony (Enemy Way blessing ceremony) = 3 days

This ceremony is to ensure good luck and prosperity as it exorcises ghosts, violence and ugliness (illness).

Blessing Way Ceremony = 2 days

Blessingways are used to invoke positive blessings and to avert misfortune.

Kinaalda = 4 days

Coming of age puberty ceremony celebrating maturity of girls among the Navajo is held generally on the fourth night after the first evidence of the maiden’s entrance into womanhood.

Yébîchai Ceremony (Night Way healing ceremony) = 9 days and 9 nights

Performed only in the winter months,,,the ritual, perhaps the most complex in the Navajo repertoire of healing chants, includes praying, sacred dancing, pollen blessing, and sandpainting.

Navajo Nation Tribal Fair (around Labor Day Weekend) = 7 days

Hopitu

Katsina Season begins at winter solstice, when the Katsina spirits emerge around Hopi villages:

  • Kyaamuya (December) ceremony, ceremonial opening of the kivas for the season.
  • Paamuya (January) – A time of reflection and preparation for the long winter.
  • Powamuya (February) – The bean dance, distribution of sprouts and also a rite of passage for Hopi children.
  • Osomuya (March) – Night dances inviting the rain and encouraging growth.
  • Kwiyamuya (April) – Preparation for planting, “Racer” Katsinam engage in footraces leaving gifts of food.
  • Hakitonmuya (May) – Delegation of responsibilities as the planting season begins with encouraging dances.
  • Wuko’uyis (June) – Planting season fully underway and Katsinam appear in villages at sunrise for a dance.
  • Talangva (July) recaps the entire Katsina season with the Niman ceremony shortly after the summer solstice. Katsinam arrive at dawn with more gifts, all the brides of that year are given a special blessing, and the Katsinam depart for their spiritual home in the San Francisco peaks with the prayers and blessings of the Hopi people.

Non-Katsina Season (summer), Harvest Schedule: Tala’paamuya (August), Nasanmuya (September), Toho’osmuy (October), and Kelmuya (November), during which a variety of dances and celebrations occur.

KACHINA HOUSE - HOPI CEREMONIAL CALENDAR

N'dee

Sunrise Ceremony = 4 days

Rite of Passage/Coming of Age ceremony held for young women reaching adulthood.

Lightning Dance = # days

The Lightning Ceremony is a White Mountain Apache ceremony which is done to protect the people from the danger of lightning. In addition, the ceremony brings the rain and insures good crops.

Tribal Fairs (around Labor Day Weekend) = 7 days

White Mountain Apache Religion

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