The Gáŭn Bagúdzĭtash, or Dance of the Gods, is the one ceremony of the Apache that bears any material resemblance to the many Yébĭchai dances or "chants" of the Navaho, and even then the only feature common to the two is that the men, typifying gods, wear elaborate masks. The Apache are not unfamiliar with the making and employment of dry-paintings for the treatment of the sick, as has been seen. Originally the dry-paintings and the _gáŭn_, or gods, always appeared together, but in recent years the Gáŭn dance has been conducted preliminary to and as a part of medicine, puberty, and war ceremonies. Captain Bourke, in his "Medicine-men of the Apache" (Ninth Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1892), speaks of this as the Spirit or Ghost dance. Though performed infrequently now, as compared with other dances, on account of the expense and of disapproval by the agents, the Gáŭn Bagúdzĭtash is unquestionably the most popular ceremony conducted by the Apache. [Illustration: Apache _Gaŭn_] Apache _Gaŭn_ _From Copyright Photograph 1906 by E.S. Curtis_ Four always, but generally five, deities are impersonated in this dance—Gaŭnchĭné̆ of the east, Gáŭncho of the south, Gáŭn of the west, Gaŭnchí of the north, and Gaŭnĕskí̆dĕ the fun-maker. These are arrayed in short kilts, moccasins, and high stick hats supported upon tightly fitting deerskin masks that cover the entire head. Each carries two flat sticks about two feet in length, painted with zigzag lines representing lightning. For the dance a circular plot of ground, fifty or sixty feet in diameter, is cleared of stones and brush, and four small cedar trees are planted about its edge, one at each of the cardinal points. All in attendance assemble in a circle outside the trees, leaving an opening at the eastern side. Unheralded the five masked personators march in from the east and take position in front of the cedar trees, the fifth man standing behind the fourth at the northern side. Four drummers with small drums and an indefinite number of drummers around a large one, at a signal from the medicine-man in charge, who sings, begin drumming. The personated gods dance all about the circle, making motions with their sticks as if picking up and throwing something away, followed by blowing with the breath for the purpose of expelling evil spirits from their midst. While this is going on the fifth masker, Gaŭnĕskídĕ, performs antics designed to amuse the audience. When the songs are finished the dancers depart in an eastwardly direction, whence they came, and all rest.