20 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. yj 



Perliaps three days after I die there will be a big party, 



I believe you will paint your face, dress up and not think of me, 



You will begin to love some other Indian. 



There will be many Indian boys for you, 



But I will learn many new things where I am going. 



(The man then dies, and the remainder of the song is concerning the journey 



of his spirit.) 



WEDDING CUSTOMS 



The principal social event among the Tule is a wedding, with its 

 accompanying festivities. The j^eople assemble from neighboring 

 islands and dance and sing for several days, according to the wealth 

 of the bride's father who provides the entertainment. 



A young girl is not left without advice in choosing a husband. 

 Her father notices that a certain young man is a good hunter or 

 fisher, that he is an active worker in the fields, or that his father 

 is a rich man having many cocoanut trees. He calls the girl's atten- 

 tion to this circumstance and she regards the young man with favor. 

 It is customary for the father of the girl to propose an alliance, visit- 

 ing the young man's father for that purpose. A knowledge of this 

 custom was obtained in the following manner. While the study of 

 Tule music was in progress a gentleman was invited to hear the 

 Indians sing. There was some consultation and then, without ex- 

 planation, Igwa begati to sing and dance, advancing toward the 

 gentleman. Approaching the gentleman who (unwittingly) repre- 

 sented the girl's father he stroked and patted his knees in an in- 

 gratiating manner, as a white man might pat another on the shoulder. 

 First the left knee and then the right was treated in this manner. 

 Igwa. who had been standing in front of the gentleman, then danced 

 around him several times. When the action and song were con- 

 cluded it was said he had shown how a Tule father asks that a man's 

 son shall marry his daughter. The melody was not recorded. It is 

 probable that the words were similar in character to those of the 

 wedding song. 



The father of a Tule girl begins to gather presents for her wed- 

 ding while she is still a small child. Tule girls usually marry when 

 they are about fourteen years of age and by that time the father, if 

 he be a man of property, has a good supply of presents. The parents 

 of the boy also give generous gifts if they can afiford it. 



The song which is sung at a wedding contains a narrative of the 

 entire event, given in the present tense and begimiing with the gath- 

 ering of presents by the girl's father. It is the writer's custom, in 



