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In This Section... Migration and Language Trade Houses Crafts and Utensils Money Food Salmon Magic Coming of Age as a Shasta Girl Shamanism and Healing Treasures of Mt. Shasta Hidden Lakes of Mt. Shasta The Ghost Dance Why Mt. Shasta Erupted

Coming of Age as a Shasta Girl

The young girl undertook a period of fasting and seclusion away from her village for 10 days, and each night she would return to the village for dances held in her honor. She would be ornamented with a band of blue jay feathers shielding her eyes during the dances, and was forbidden to look upon fire, sun, moon, or human beings directly. She would not speak, except for hushed words to her mother, and did not wash or comb her hair for 10 days. During her days, she was sent into the woods to gather wood for the evening dance fires, and for her neighbor's hearths. When she does sleep, she does so with her head in a mortar basket. Her object of power and protection while in her home is a deer hoof rattle. During the ten days, it was believed that the young woman's dreams held special significance, and would help her determine her path in life as an adult.

While in her home she always faces east. She faces east while dancing, as do the other dancers. The dancing takes place as a round dance with the men linking arms, and the women holding on to their belts forming an outer circle. On the morning after the tenth night of dancing, the blue jay band is very gradually and slowly removed from her eyes so that by noontime it has been completely removed and thrown to the east. This marks the close of the ceremony.

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