| This dissertation explores the dialectics of self and other in the definition of White Mountain Apache sociality and culture. The ethnographic focus of the dissertation is the Western Apache Na'i'ees, a coming-of-age ceremony for young women. I argue that the Na'i'ees is a focal point in the formation of Apache sociality, and in this regard articulates images and meanings that people rely upon in coming to terms with various formations of "otherness." Further, the images of otherness and sociality forged in the ceremony are transformed as they are metaphorically extended to situations of encounter with persons defined as non-Apache. These encounters define the discursive and intellectual margins of Apache sociality and culture, and implicate both Western and Apache meanings and presences in the invention of contemporary Apache culture.;I begin my exploration of this "culture of encounter" by first considering what kind of other I represented to the the people with whom I worked, and then broaden my perspective to examine some of the implications of this. Next, I extend my investigation from its "first person" location in my relations to the people with whom I worked to other instances where concepts of personhood, self and other are expressed. My theorization of encounter thus starts with a discussion of the terms and categories relevant to an exegesis of my otherness, and proceeds to a broader investigation of Apache sociality. Following this I turn my attention to the Na'i'ees, or Sunrise Ceremony, which I treat as a paradigm of Apache sociality. Finally, in describing Apache reactions to a "Rainbow Gathering," I demonstrate the relevance of the sociality that is created in the Na'i'ees to the ways in which the Apache define themselves in relation to the non-Apache world. |
