Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1889-09-21

The strsnEs Csurt~hip anil Qu~cy wedding,
Of u Northern Tribe.

The strsnEs Courtship AMI Qu~c.' weddings
Of Surthsrs Tribe.
Mr.. ph. Jacobsen, Ia letter to his
well known brother. Capt. A. Jacobsen.
gives the following description Of the
marriage ceremonies 81 the BilquIa In
dams of british Columbia An Indian
who intends To marry calls upon his i'm
tended wife's parents and arranges with
them how much Ice Is 20 pay for perinis-
sion 10 ntarry the girl Among people
~ high descent this is dome by messen-
gers. sometimes as many as twenty being
sent 10 call ON tlle girls father They
are sent by the mans parents before the
young inap Is Of age In many instances
both mam and girl are not more than 8
or years old Tie messengers go in
nn their negotiations without going
ashore, where the relatives Of the girl
are standing
The messengers ~ the young mans
parents praise his excellence and noble
descent; tn. great exploits OF his father.
grandfather and ancestors: their wars.
victories and hunting expeditions: their
lih~rality ut festivals. etc Then the
| girls relatives praise the girl and her
ancestors. and thus the negotiations ARE
| carried on Finally. number Of hlan-
kets are thrown ashore by the mes~rn.
| gers. and the girls relatives protest. and
maintain that the number is not suffi.
cient 10 I'ay for the permission 10 marry
the girl In order to obtain their con-
sent. new blankets are thrown ashore
one 10y one. the messengers continually
maintaining that the price paid Is TOO
great Generally from twenty to tifty
blankets. each 81 ,he value of about fifty
cents, are paid
| After this the hoy and the girl are con.
siderrd engaged When they come to
i~ grown up the yaung man has To serve
| year Ia liis father-in,l law. He must fell
trees. fetch water. fish and hunt for the
latter During this time he Ia called
Kos. which means 'one who woos :
After year has elapsed the marriage Is
celebrated Al this time great festivals
are celebrated. Seven or eight men per-
form dance. They wear dancing aprons
and ieggings trimmed with putin beaks.
htStfso of decrs, copper plates and bella
" the grolm should he wealthy man,
who has presented TO his wife many
small copper plates, such M are used 40
presents TO a bride. these are carried by
the dancers The singing master. who
beats the drum. starts a song in which
the dancers join The song used at the
marriage festival is sung in unison.
white in all other darces each dancer
has his own tune and song The first
dancer wears ring made Of cedar bark.
His hair 10 strewn with eagle down.
which tiies about when he moves and
forms cloud around his head.
The groom presents the first dancer
with "a piece of calico. which the latter
tears 10 pieces. which he throws down
in front Of each house OF the village.
crying "Holpr' In order to drive away
evil spirits These pieces OF calico which
ne throws down in frnnt OF the houses
have u lucky meaning. and at the same
time express the idea that the groom,
| when he comes Ia be wealthy man, will
not forget the inhabitants Of any house
when giving festival The dancers
swing their bodies and arms. stamp
their feet and show the copper plates TO
the lockers on
Then the brides father brings a grea,
number Of blankets. generally double tho
numh.r OF those he had received from
the groom, and gives them To his dangh-
ter The bride orders few blankets 10
be spread before the groom. She sits
down. and he puts his hand upon her
head. Then the groom II given for each
Of the parts Of his body one or more
blankets. Finally he Is given a new
blanket After the brides father haas
given blanket TO each dancer and to
the drummer the villagers are invited TO
a great feast AT this time groom and
bride eat for the tirst time together
Science