Morning journal and courier., 1885-03-09
pgUTE COURTsHIP.
How Maideffs are wooed and Won
Among the INDIANS.
he ISIS CaHh


the life of the aborigines that; rith sll their
liberty and freedom to roam the vast wilder
ness of boundless country, they voluntarily
adopted many domestic regulations, more
rigid than any in vogue among the Puritans
who landed on Plymouth Rock. Ansterity
is not usually ascfibed as one Of the traits of
the American Indian, and yet in that most
interesting period of life, when young people
court ond marry, they enforced the severest
and most stoiCal restraints. The knotted
lash which the monk fredt:ently had laid
upon his bare back and limbs to give his
thoughts more heavenly bent was no great
er indulgence in asceticism than the forced
suppression of a young girls feelings which
the Indians required: In matters relating to
courtship and marriage the higher tribes of
the aborigines were singularly severe and
formal The narration by Sarah Winnemuc-
ca of how Indian maidens we're wooed and
won in the Tft5te nation shows the strictness
of that people in regard 70 the mingling of
the sexes. The old chiefs daughter gave the
following account OF q Plute courtsh1p TO d
Call reporter a few days ago:
"When girl reaches womanhood an her
family desire to indicate to the tribe that
their daughter has reached the marriageable
period she makes her debut; as you say in
English, but the Piute girl comes ont In an
entirely different way than that adopted by
her white sisters. Just before she reaches
charge of her. To that old lady, whose years
are supposed to have brought wisdom, the
girl is given. She schools her in domestic
duties and explains to her the nature and
Importance of the wifely relation. The girl
then goes with two older female relatives to
teepec, which is small wigwam, where
she remains with them twenty-five days.
During this time she performs work which is
supposed to be strengthening. 1t consists
chiefly of piling wood. Three times day, at
morning, noon and night, she stacks five
piles of wood, making fifteen each day. Ev
cry five days her relations take her to the
river to battle, and at the end of the time she
gives her clothing to her st. endants and re-
turns to the family lodge. Very frequently
the wardrobe which she presents her female
attendants is quite extensive, and is regarded
by them valuable present. When the
young girl has spent twenty-five days in the
teepee she has made her debut into the socie-
ty of her tribe, and that is considered as n
public announcement that she is ready to
marry.
''Of course, a pretty, shapely girl is in
great demand, just as a belle is in your
society. A girl with a handsome face and
ine black eyes, and flowing hair as black
and glossy as a ravens wing, and a will
Iowy, graceful form, is the object of a
great deal of attention from the young
men ef the tribe, and often of the older
men, too. A lovely Indian girl is as much
sought after in her circle as a great beauty
is LII a London drawing room. But oh,
how different the two kinds of courtship
are! We nave parties in the wigwsms to
which young folks go and get acquainted and
court. The young men and girls havo no
theater TO attend, and no long walks home
after the play is over. They never go riding
together, strolling throurh the woods
along the river bank. They never idle to-
gether i'll the canoe on the water, plucking
lilies and flowers. Although they seem to
enjoy much greater liberty to roam and wan
der, whithersoever their fancy may lead
them, yet they are kept as close as prisoners
Piute courtship lacks freedom, and yet it is
not devoid of that intense excitement that
attends love making the world over.
''Yeu maJ suppose that the girls and
young men would steal out of their lodges
moonlight nights and have ciaudestine meet
ings and WOO in that way, but they never
:iare do it Indeed, they never speak togeth-
er. A word never passes between them. But
sill glri very soon knows when young
man is interested in her. He tries to catch
her attention by his horsemansnip, or his
skill with the bow, or his athletic accom-
plishments He rides by her at furious
speed and returns again and again. In this
way he attracts her attention and informs
her. although he does not speak work, that
he loves her and would like to marry her.
But this does not comprise all OF his court
ship. At night, when the Indians have
tired to their wigwanls and are sleeping, the
young man rises from his bed of leaves and
skins and goes to the lodge occupied by the
girl he loves. He enters silently and sits
down beside her couch. A lodge is circular
in shape, and at night when the inmates GO
ned they heap brushwood and logs on the
fire in the center of the tent and then lie
down with their feet toward the fire and their
head toward the outside or circumference of
the wigwam. The Indians sleep on leaves
and robes and are covered when sleeping
with skins. As the young man enters the
lodge he can see by the freight where the
young girl is sleeping and he goes directly to
her side. often stepping over other sleepers,
and sits down by her bed. It is customary
for the young girl to sleep near her grand
mother, who is expected to rest lightly after
the girl has made her debut. AS soon as she
sees the young man enter she wakens the girl,
who rises and goes to where her mother is
sleeping and lies down beside her. AS soon
she does this the young man rises and goes
ont as silently as he cams in.
t'Not a word is spoken. He does not touch
the girl while he is sitting by her side as she
sleeps, Her grandmother does not speak a
word of encouragement to him: neither does
her mother indicate that he is welcome
suitor. The next night he comes again and
takes up his position beside the girl, and
keeps this up for long time. During all
the time he is counting in this way he is
treated as absolute stranger by the girls
relations They may have entertained him
before he began his attention to the girl; her
brothers may have hunted with him and
shared the game with him, but when he once
begins to woo the girl all familiarity and
friendship ceases. He is never invited to eat
of food prepared by the family of the girl,
and her brothers never offer him anything on
the hunt His presence is wholly ignored
If the girl does not like him she tells her
grandmother, and when the young nan
comes again at night, that good old lady
rises from her bed, takes handful of hot
ashes from the fire and throws them in his
face. That's the mitten. If he persists in
his attentions and continues to come again
and again. the whole family unite in heaping
indignities upon him, but the girl is never a
party to this. Her brothers aud sisters and
father and mother throw ashes upon him,
dowse him with water, fagellate him with
stout switches and drive him from the lodge.
Sometimes an Indian persists, in spite OF
such assaults, and goe3 again and again to
the tent where the girl is sleeping. Some
times his perseverance wins her heart, but
not often.
..If the girl likes hia and is willing to
marry him then she tells her grandmother,
who informs the girls father. If the family
think it suitable match the father invites
the Young man to the tent and asks him, in
the presence of the girl, if he loves and will
take good care of her. Then the father asks
the girl if she loves the young man, and tells
her'th duties Of wife. If both say they
love each other, the two become engaged,
but even after rhat they do not talk togeth-
er, neither do they go about together. A
day is fixed for the wedding. A great feast
is prepared The relatives of the girl and
the young man sit around a great campfire
together, the young man and the girl sitting
side by side. The food is in baskets. The
girl has carefully cooked basket of food for
her intended husband, and as she hands it
to him he seizes her wrist with his right hand
and takes the basket with his left. That is
the marriage ceremony. The girls father
then pronounces them man and wife, and
they 90 to lodge. where they i've together.
cit may seem to white people that the Pi-
in &c ar17da nd fa0l h.