Then Big Plume, her father, a silent and unassuming man, came to my
lodge for advice. He had known that young Mountain Chief was in love
with his daughter; he did not want him for a son-in-law. But the lover
was aggressive. At night he lay in wait for the girl; he met her on the
trails when she went after firewood, or to the river for water. It was
for this reason they left Heart Butte and came to Mad Wolf’s camp; and
now his daughter was lost. He wanted to take his family back to their
home in Canada, but he could not leave the girl with young Mountain
Chief. He was poor and could not support a wife. Big Plume had no faith
in him. He felt bitterly towards the man who had stolen his daughter;
it was no marriage and his daughter was disgraced.
In tribal life it sometimes happened that a lover asked his sweetheart
to marry him through the medium of a relative. But as a rule it was
customary for parents to decide on a suitable husband for a girl. A
chief who was prominent would pick out a strong warrior for his
son-in-law, that his daughter, a child of plenty, might be well
provided for.
After the betrothal, it was customary for a girl to carry food to the
lodge of her intended and to make moccasins for the members of his
immediate family. Her parents gave a feast to which only his relatives
were invited; and in this way the match became known.
If the girl’s family were well off, they gave many presents—a bunch of
horses and a new tepee completely furnished, with robes and blankets,
back-rests, parfleches, and cooking utensils. They also gave their
daughter a buckskin dress decorated with elk teeth, and a suit trimmed
with ermine tails for her husband. They did this as a parade of their
wealth and that their social standing might be recognized by the tribe.
The man presented a number of horses to the girl’s father; and later he
would be expected to share with his father-in-law the results of his
war and hunting expeditions. If he brought back from a hunt three
horses loaded with skins and meat, he gave his father-in-law one of the
loads with the choicest parts of the meat. And in return, the
father-in-law was expected to give of his property.
There was no ceremony; and the marriage form was simple. The couple
took their places in the new tepee and began their domestic life. The
husband hunted and looked after the horses. The wife prepared food,
tanned skins, and made clothing. The husband had no obligations to his
wife in regard to other women; but he held her to strict account for
her actions with other men. A husband could kill an unfaithful wife, or
cut off her nose, or the members of his society might be called upon to
inflict this punishment.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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