706 BUREAU OP AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Btjll. 187 



When an Indian makes his first address to the young woman he intends to 

 marry, she is obliged by ancient custom to sit by him until he is done eating and 

 drinking, whether she lilies or dislikes him ; but afterward, she is at her own 

 choice whether to stay or retire. 



He says that the groom might divide two ears of corn before witnesses 

 and give the girl one, retaining the other himself, or give her a deer's 

 foot for which she returns some cakes of bread. Another writer notes 

 that the groom gave venison and received corn or potatoes. Imme- 

 diately before the consummation of the marriage the youth and the 

 girl's father took a meal together with no one else present. A deer 

 was also killed and laid at the woman's door, and when she had dressed 

 and cooked this and given the youth some to eat, they were regarded 

 as husband and wife. Chiefs commonly celebrated their marriages 

 with a feast, being assisted by the husband's kinsmen in slaughtering 

 deer and bison for the occasion. As with the Creeks, they brought 

 meat to the houses of their several subordinate wives in order to keep 

 them bound (Swanton, 1928 c, pp. 225-228). 



Choctaw customs in general differed considerably from both those of 

 the Creeks and those of the Chickasaw and it may be assumed that 

 their marriage rites also embraced certain peculiarities, but our in- 

 formation regarding Choctaw customs of the earlier period is unfor- 

 tunately scanty. Romans merely remarks that 



they take wives without much ceremony, and live together during pleasure, 

 and after separation, which is not very frequent, they often leave the second 

 to retake the first wife. 



A somewhat earlier French writer states that the prospective hus- 

 band made presents to the father and mother of his intended, led the 

 latter home, and afterward must be careful to avoid meeting or having 

 anything to do with his mother-in-law. He says that divorce was 

 easy and polygyny in vogue, but it is evident that they usually married 

 in the same family group whether several wives were espoused or a 

 wife was to replace one who was deceased. He had direct knowledge 

 of a case where a man had married three sisters. But even at that time 

 it is evident that the actual procedure was much more complicated, 

 and we learn something of this from writers in the early part of the 

 nineteenth century. According to these, the youth first established an 

 affirmative standing in the eyes of his intended bride, but Claiborne 

 was told that the woman often made the first approach, especially a 

 widow whose property frequently proved attractive to young men 

 with more looks than energy. After satisfying himself that he might 

 take up the question of marriage formally, the prospective husband or 

 his mother or some other near relative approached the uncle, mother, 

 or other responsible guardian of the girl. A present of cloth was 

 made to the girl's mother which she divided up and distributed among 



