Add a Native American Tradition to Your Wedding Ceremony
Native American culture is rich in tradition and custom. Their wedding ceremonies are no different. Many of the Native American wedding ceremonies are very beautiful. Adding one of these traditions to your upcoming wedding ceremony may add an extra element of spirituality to your nuptials.
In the Native American tradition, the man always asks permission before marrying into the woman’s family. He usually had to ask the priest or shaman. After permission is granted, it is customary for the two families to exchange livestock, food, or other gifts in approval of the upcoming union.
In many Native American tribes, the new couple lives with the bride’s family after the wedding. It is up to the new husband to take care of his in-laws and to do what he is told by his new mother-in-law. It is also customary for the couple to be given baskets of corn as gifts, since the corn symbolizes fertility.
An engaged couple of the Algonquin tribe selects four sponsors. Sponsors are older individuals who will provide wisdom and advice to the newly wed couple. In tribes that follow traditions, divorce is not an option. That is the reason for the sponsors; so they can offer advice if the couple should need it. At the wedding ceremony the sponsors make a commitment to provide and guidance to the couple throughout their lifetime.
The Native Americans of Northern California have two kinds of marriage; the full marriage and the half marriage. The full marriage will take place when the groom agrees to pay the full amount that was requested by the bride’s family. If the groom pays just half of the amount that the family requested, a half marriage will take place. In a half marriage the couple will reside in the bride’s family’s home and lives under the authority of his father-in-law.
A traditional Native American wedding ceremony that can be used today is the fire ceremony. This tradition involves constructing a circle of stones and seven types of wood. In the center of the circle will sit a large pile of wood. On either side of the woodpile will be two small fires. These fires represent the bride and groom as individuals. After the ceremonial blessings from the priest and family and friends, the bride and groom will slide each individual fire into the large woodpile to symbolize their new union.
Another ceremony that is used frequently is the blanket ceremony. The bride and groom are wrapped individually in blue blankets at the onset of the ceremony. The blue blankets are used to represent the sorrows that each of them have endured separately. Once the ceremony is blessed by the priest, the blue blankets are taken off and the couple is wrapped as one in a single white blanket. This symbolizes the act of becoming one.
One more Native American wedding ceremony is the seven steps ceremony. The wedding ceremony starts with lighting a sacred fire. The bride and groom proceed to take exactly seven steps around this fire. The groom takes the first step and then stops to say a vow. The bride follows with a step and recites a vow of her own. The groom will then take another step and recite another vow. This continues until seven steps and seven vows have been completed. It is not uncommon for the couple to exchange corn or stones to show their commitment.