The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1908-12-15
INDIAN TRIBAL MARRIAGES.
Red Men Are Forsaking Old Gus
toms for the White Mems Ways.


the old tribal customs among the
Indian tribes of Oklahoma are now
rapidly dying out before the en-
croachment of the white mans way,
and will soon be matter for the eth
nologist and the historian The pic
turesque marriage ceremonies which
gave one of the strongest bits of
color to the old-time Indian GUS
toms are going with the rest. Pres
ent day Indian marriages in Oklaho
ma are largely stripped of the pic
turesque and romantic features
which formerly accompanied them,
but have not as yet attained to the
different sort of splendor which
characterizes the nuptials OF their
white neighbors. In consequence
they are usually dull and prosaic to
the highest degree performed prob
ably by a probate judge or justice
of the peace, but sometimes enliven-
ed by a touch of the older time
in the feast which is served by rel
atives after the ceremony
The putting on of the white
mans way did not come without a
struggle AS far back as 1897 the
territorial legislature of Oklahoma
passed law requiring Indians to
take out license and marry accord
ing to the white mans laws Most
of them resisted and would not adj
nit that their old tribal customs
were insufficient, and several prose-
cutions under the new law were nee
essary to bring them into line.
One of the notable cases of this
sort was where Ashley Hoag, an
| educated Arapahoe Indians took a
prominent member of his tribe, took
to himself a wife in the person of
Mabel Gun, also an educated Arapa-
no, and refused to comply with the
4, legal formalities required in such
cases. 1t was only under duress that
| he consented to submit to a legal
marriage, which was performed with
great ceremony by Judge D. H. Bow
| re in front of the old court house at
Watonga, with typical frontier
audience of both whites and Indians.
An interpreter translated the pro-
ceedings into the Arapaho tongue
! for the benefit of the Indian specta-
/ tors, including the father and mother
| of the groom, who were arranged on
either side of the principals.
Among all Of the Indian tribes of
Oklahoma, the principal feature of
/ the marriage ceremony was the
virtual purchase of the bride by the
groom from her father, which was
| often the occasion of a large amount
of dickering, in the course of which
| the groom would grudgingly add one
/ after another to the heap of articles
which constituted the purchase price
I So h iE
satisfaction with the amount offer
! ed. One squaw man living near Wa
| tonga, who admits that he has had
/, fourteen squaws during his forty
seven years of residence among the
! Arapahos, says that he paid for his
, last bride twenty-four ponies, five
! 100-pound sacks of coffee, five sacks
of sugar, twelve blankets and two
skinning knives.
AS general proposition the bride
/ to-be had very little to say about
the matter, although under an old
Cheyenne custom, which is still quite
| frequently observed, the young wo-
man was really allowed to take the
initiative. In that tribe, as in most
Of the others, brave must have dis
tnguished himself by some feat of
bravery or have accumulated consid-
cradle property before he can aspire
! to the hand of young woman of
more than ordinary charms.
The courtship usually begins at a
dance by the young people of the
village, at which the girls sit in a
long row on one side of the tepee
and the young men on the other. A
peculiar feature of their dress is
! that each wears a blanket concealing
everything but the eyes. The love
sick swain gazes continually from
the corner of his eye at his possible
! sweetheart. She responds by rising
and dancing around the fire, and
seals her choice by cutting him on
the ear. This she does several times,
| the, last stroke almost knocking thc
young man from his seat, to the
/ great merriment of the onlookers.
| They then dance together, along
| with other couples who have gone
through the same performance, until
late at night.
! "A few days later the young man
goes and stands near the tepee Of
the girls father. The mother calls
her attention to his presence, and
they must then advance from the
tepee. II she runs away it IL equivA-
lent. to lifting her sutton, but II she
| stands coquettishly looking In the
! opposite direction from the one
where the young man is standing. he
advances and throws blanket over
both their heads, and all rivals might
as wen drop out.
| The next step Is OF course for him
Ito zee the father and arrange the
number OF ponies or ooer articles
| to be paid for his bride. Wien the
gifts are finally accepted. the sutton
curls himself up like dog at the
door of the tepee Of the old mans
Itepee tosshow how humble and faith
full he viii be. The father then in
vites him into the tepee and names
the day OF the wedding.
! A new tepee. In which no one has
ever slept, is now prepared by the
girls mother. Upon completion the
girl is placed inside. Friends of the
young brave then SEEK him out and
place him inside. The door Ia then
closed and the marriage ceremony