The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1915-10-12
A SIBERIAN WEDDING
BRIDEGROOM IN A COLD LAND
GETS A HOT RECEPTION.
The Marriage Ceremony Is Made In
teresting For Him From Start to
Finish. Reindeer the DOwry.

The native Koryak of Kamchatka, ,
far up in the peninsular that is wash
ed by the Behring sea, can sleep COM
fOrtably in a room four feet high
with six by eight feet floor space, and
have a fire smoking nearly all nieht
while the doors are tightly closed,
and then does not object if three 9TH
ers share his apartment with him.
Tomorrow he will have chance
enough to breathe more cold, fresh
air than he cares for.
His picture of the happy hereafter
is a snug, coZy place, where every cell
of his body can perpetually enjoy
warmth and where neither ears, fin
gers nor toes shall be frozen.
Once in his life, however, things
get little hotter than he can hon
estly enjoy; and that once he cannot
escape if he is to be a man of import
ance in the community; for it is his
marriage ceremony. AS soon as the
youth calls on the maiden's father to
find out what dowry she can oring in
case of eventual marriage. Since
reindeer is the Koryaks medium of
exchange the dowry usually consists
of reindeer.
If the father consents to the en-
gagement and his dowry pleases the
young man he interviews the girl,
and if she reciprocates his affection
he enters her fathers service Chop
ping wood, tending the herds, Guilt
waiting the garden and all other kinds
of farm work fall to his share. The
period of service lasts from two to
three years.
The marriage ceremony begins
about o'clock in the evening. There
is building in the village into which
the villagers crowd at twilight. A
large hall runs through the center
of the building, on either side of
which are from ten to fifteen little
rooms, called pologs. Each polog is
separated from the next by heavy
reindeer curtains, and the entrance
from each polog into the hall is clos
ed by similar curtains. Nowhere in
all that building except in the hall
could a good-sized man stand up
right
After considerable eating and
some drinking a bass drum begins to
beat. At the same time a solemn
faced KOryak passes from one polog
to another, dropping willow sprouts
and alder branches in each inclosure,
Presently the beater of the drum be-
gins to sing, to accompany his slow
performance on the drum. Gradu-
ALLY he accelerates his beats and his
song. Faster and faster he smites
his drum; louder and louder he sings,
until within 80 minutes he has work
ed himself into frenzy, a cOnsum-
nation that is not without its effect
upon the villagers. The stOlid calm
with which they entered, suggestive
of an impending funeral, gives place
to smiles, to tossings of the head, I'M
til by and by the whole crowd are
as excited as their leader.
At this point the front eaFtain of
each pOlOg goes up, and two or three
women appear inside. In their hands
are the willow sprouts and older
branches. In moment the father Of
the bridegroom enters the building
leading the happy couple by the
hand. The noise, the shouting and
the whirling now become indescriba-
BILE. At a signal from the groom S
father the bride dashes into the first
pOlog to the right. The women that
are within lift the curtain for her,
and che Da9CnG u11iply1Ir from ono Onr1-
partment to the next.
Not so with the groom He dashes
after her; but no sooner has he en-
tered the first polog than the women
begin to beat him with the willow
sprouts and alder branches. He seizes
the curtain to enter the next polog,
but two or three women hold it down,
and if he finally succeeds there is a
hot application of branches on that
part of his anatomy that remains
longest within the po1og.
Meanwhile the women in the next
polOg are ready to receive him with
equal warmth. They ply the switches
energeticafBy, and do not hesitate to
thrust out a loot also, in order that
the happy groom may stumble and
afford a more enduring target for
their blows.
There is no escape ff9m this expe-
rience until the groom has entered
and passed through every one of!
those 20 or 80 pologs. The front cur
tatnS are raised so that the pibfc has
a clear chance to enjoy the spectacle. |
Of course, he never catches the
bride. She has reached the last pofog
before he is half way through If she
passes out of the last polog he must
work another year at her fathers
house and pass through the same or
deal once more. But she usually |
awaits him in the last polog, and |
when they meet there the wedding |
ceremony is finished-they are man
and wife.