Crown Dancing is a very old and sacred dance tradition. According to Apache belief, the dance was taught to the Apaches by the mountain spirits as a means of healing.

The Crown Dancers are the Gaan or mountain spirits. Apaches believe that Usen, the Creator, sent the Gaan to the Apache to teach them to live in harmony.

There are five Crown Dancers, four masked dancers representing the directions of north, south, east, and west. The fifth dancer is the clown, who protects the others by driving away evil spirits with the sound of his humming bull-roarer, a thin piece of wood suspended from a string and swung in a circle.

The dancers decide what symbols to put on their crowns. Symbols often honor forms in nature, and many crowns include the Apache cross to signify the four sacred directions. Some crown headdresses are adorned with eagle feathers, because the eagle is sacred to the Apache. Lightning, another sacred symbol, is often painted on the bodies of Apache Crown Dancers.


The dancers are not allowed to talk to one another so they communicate with their sticks during the dance. Only properly trained men can dance the Crown Dance. Crown Dancers play an important part in many Apache ceremonies such as the Sunrise Ceremony, which commemorates the growth of a girl to womanhood. The dance is also performed in healing ceremonies, and as a social dance.