Solstice Saturday: Joe Tohonnie Jr. and the Apache Crown Dancers

Joe Tohonnie Jr. and the Apache Crown Dancers (White Mountain Apache) from Whiteriver, Arizona, celebrate the summer solstice through song and dance. Led by Joe Tohonnie Jr. (White Mountain Apache), the Apache Crown Dancers tell a story that offers blessing, healing, and protection. Four dancers representing the cardinal directions—east, west, north, and south—are led by a messenger who begins the dance by spinning a type of whistle called a bullroarer. The dancers cover their faces with masks, paint their bodies, and wear large wooden crowns decorated with symbolic colors, patterns, and glyphs to embody the ga’an, powerful mountain spirits who are friends to the Apache people. An Apache tradition practiced since time immemorial, the Apache Crown Dance is performed during special occasions. The family dance troupe also includes young Apache women who perform the Rainbow Dance, which honors the blessings of rain.

Since their debut at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah, Joe Tohonnie Jr. and the Apache Crown Dancers have performed at numerous festivals and events. For the past two decades, the family has shared their culture, traditions, and values of respect, humbleness, and kindness through their performances.

This program was recorded in the Potomac Atrium of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC on Saturday, June 24, 2023.