swAMuNl INDIAN 'IKIIiKS oK INK LOWKK M ISSISSI IM'I VAI.I.KV 90 



wife .'ilsii .•i(lv:iiii-('s iiiid pl.-iccs liimsclf ;il llic side of liis (liiimlilt-r. Tlicii llic 

 Imi.v sjiys fo liis iiUciulcil. " l>i) vdii wish to have luc for your liiisliMiulV " She 

 auswors, " I iiuk'c'«l wish it and I am hapjiy over it. Lovo me as much as 1 love 

 you, for I do not love and I will not love any except you." At these words the 

 suitor covers the head of his allianccd with the ]tresent which he has received 

 from his father and says to iicr, " I love yon; that is why I take you for my 

 wife, and here is what I j;ive to your ri'lations to itnrcliase yon," Then he gives 

 the i)resent to the girl's father. 



The hushand wears a tuft on the top of his hair which hangs over his left 

 ear, to which is att.ached a sprig of oak leaves, and in his left hand a how and 

 arrows. The tuft rising up witnesses that he ought to be the master, the oak 

 sprig that he does not fear to go into the woods nor to lie outside in order to 

 hunt. The how and the arrows signifj'- that he does not fear the enemy and 

 that he will always he prepared to defend his wife and his children. 



The wife holds in her left hand a little branch of laurel, and in her right an 

 ear of maize, which her mother has given her at the time when sht> received, 

 with her father, the present from her husband. The laurel signilles that she will 

 always iireserve a good reputation, and the ear of maize that she will take care 

 of the household and prepare her hu.sband's meals. 



'J'he married couple having said what I have just rei>eated, the girl lets the 

 ear of maize which she held in her right hand fall, and presents it to her hus- 

 band, who takes it also in his right hand, .saying to her, " I am your husband." 

 She answers, "And I your wife." Then the husband goes to grasp the hands of 

 all of his wife's family. Then he leads his wife to his family in order that she 

 go through the same ceremony. Finally he conducts her toward his bed and 

 says to her, " That is our bed. Take care of it," which signifies that she is not 

 lo soil the nuptial couch. 



It is thus tliat nativ(> marriages are celebrated. I learned all these things 

 from an old settler. The Tattooed-serpent allowed me to look on at one mar- 

 riage. It is true that they ordinarily conceal themselves from the French, be- 

 cause Ihey are apt to laugh at the least thing which appears extraordinary to 

 them. Besides, these people are no more able to accommodate themselves than 

 are all the other nations of the world to the liberties which the French take 

 everywhere away from home. 



After the marriage celebration there is made a feast. Then they play, each 

 according to sex and age, "and finally toward evening they begin to dance and 

 continue until daylight. The middle of the cabin is always free, because the 

 beds of the family are ranged lengthwise along the walls.** 



Except for the fact that it was indoors this dance is lilce those 

 described elsewhere. 



The diiferences between these varions accounts may be explained 

 partly by the fact that they probably differed in elaborateness in the 

 dili'erent social ranks, especially as between the nobility and the com- 

 mon people, and partly liecause some writers had obtained fuller 

 information than others, bearing these points in mind, there is suffi- 

 cient aofveemeut in outlines. The lack of ceremony in connection 

 with the marriages of chiefs is probably due to the fact that the 

 chiefs' wives were necessarily Stinkards, while the wives of many 

 of the male Stinkards were women of the nobility. The limitations 



" Du Tratz, Hist, de La Louisiane, ii, 387-.39C 



