GRAAL -ARTHUR-EXCALIBUR - PAIX-LIBERTE-AMOUR DIVIN

One of the most important holy being for Apaches is White-Painted Woman, also known as Changing Woman or White Shell Woman. Her sons, Killer of Enemies and Child Born of Water, triumphed over the evils of the world personified as monsters, making the world safe for humans. The Mountain Spirits ensure the well-being of the people by protecting them from epidemic diseases and enemies. The Mountain Spirit Dancers or Crown Dancers "become" these sacred beings in the same way that the Hopi who dance specific katsinam become those katsina spirits. The Western Apache call them the gaan while the Eastern Apache know them as gaa'he. Embodying the Mountain Spirits, they dance at night, bringing the spiritual world into physical manifestation. Their heads crowned with wooden slat headdresses, four Mountain Spirit Dancers and a clown wield their wooden swords as they dance around the fire. The bull-roarer, which is whirled on a length of string to produce a distinctive, resonating sound, drums, and singing accompany their dancing among the Western Apache. The bull-roarer is not used among the Eastern Apache."  In the picture: Apache Bull-roarer (1.)

 *The katsinam, which date all the way back to the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, are more commonly known in the form of katshina dolls.*

 According to the texts found on the Stav Academy Library, the act of ridding the world of these evil entities of disease and evil incarnated monsters by the "twin sons", or twin spirits, is described by an alternate Apache creation story. This also helps explain some of the meaning behind the other name associated with Child Born-of-Water, Monster Slayer, as known in the Navajo creation story.

 (In many Apache ceremonies the following legend is re-enacted. In the coming-of-age rite sometimes the young girls will wear the costume of the White Painted Woman. Before battles some braves would dance the role of Killer of Enemies.)

 "The first peoples to arrive on earth were White Painted Woman and her brother, Killer of Enemies. His role was to hunt for food, but every time he killed an animal the Owl Man Giant would swoop down and steal the bounty. He and his sister grew hungrier and hungrier until one day, Life Giver, a spirit, arrived in the form of a thunderstorm. Nine months later White Painted Woman had a baby who was named Child Born of Water. This child grew to be a strong warrior and slew Owl Man Giant in a ferocious fight. These three together helped create the present world." -Alternate Apache Creation Story