"It seemed at times that the whole world of the Plains Indian revolved around only those things related to men. But women also played highly significant roles in both the domestic and ceremonial aspects of the life of the People. Here, three generations of Cheyenne women celebrate a young girl's rite of passage at the onset of puberty. She has been painted with red pigment, symbolic of menstrual blood, and undergoes purification in the smoke of a small fire of sweet grass and sage. From this place, her grandmother will accompany the girl, who has become a woman, to a lodge apart from the camp, where she will be given instructions for her role and responsibilities as a wife and mother of the People." - Howard Terpning