1 882.] Courtship a?id Marriage among the Choctaw s. 223 



her feet. He may have to do this two or three times before he 

 attracts the maiden's attention. If this pebble throwing is agree- 

 able, she soon makes it manifest; if otherwise, a scornful look 

 and a decided "ekwah " indicate that his suit is in vain. Some- 

 times instead of throwing pebbles the suitor enters the woman's 

 cabin and lays his hat or handkerchief on her bed. This action 

 is interpreted as a desire on his part that she should be the sharer 

 of his couch. If the man's suit is acceptable the woman permits 

 the hat to remain ; but if she is unwilling to become his bride, it 

 is removed instantly. The rejected suitor, in either method em- 

 ployed, knows that it is useless to press his suit and beats as 

 graceful a retreat as possible. 



When a marriage is agreed upon, the lovers appoint a time and 

 place for the ceremony. On the marriage day the friends and 

 relatives of the prospective couple meet at their respective houses 

 or villages, and thence march towards each other. When they 

 arrive near the marriage ground — generally an intermediate space 

 between the two villages — they halt within about a hundred yards 

 of each other. The brothers of the woman then go across to the 

 opposite party and bring forward the man and seat him on a 

 blanket spread upon the marriage ground. The man's sisters 

 then do likewise by going over and bringing forward the woman 

 and seating her by the side of the man. Sometimes, to furnish 

 a little merriment for the occasion, the woman is expected to 

 break loose and run. Of course she is pursued, captured and 

 brought back. All parties now assemble around the expectant 

 couple. A bag of bread is brought forward by the woman's rela- 

 tives and deposited near her. In like manner the man's relatives 

 bring forward a bag of meat and deposit it near him. These bags 

 of provisions are lingering symbols of the primitive days when 

 the man was the hunter to provide the household with game, and 

 the woman was to raise corn for the bread and hominy. The 

 man's friends and relatives now begin to throw presents upon the 

 head and shoulders of the woman. These presents are of any 

 kind that the donors choose to give, as articles of clothing, money, 

 trinkets, ribbons, etc. As soon as thrown they are quickly 

 snatched off by the woman's relatives and distributed among 

 themselves. During all this time the couple sit very quietly and 

 demurely, not a word spoken by either. When all the presen 1 

 have been thrown and distributed, the couple, now man and wife, 



