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132 BUKEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Boll. 103
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 funiish 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 relatives 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 presents have been thrown and distributed, the
couple, now man and wife, arise, the provisions from the bags are spread, and,
just as in civilized life, the ceremony is rounded off with a festival. The
festival over, the company disperse, and the gallant groom conducts his bride
to his home, where they enter upon the toils and responsibilities of the
future."
The above account is based largely upon the following specific
description of a wedding found among Mr. Halbert's notes
The following account of a marriage in Jasper County, Mississippi, in August,
1891, of two Six Towns Indians, Oliver Chubbee and Susan Simpson, may
be considered as describing a typical Choctaw marriage in the closing years of
the nineteenth century.
" The Indians in large numbers arrived on the ground the evening before
the wedding day, and spent the night in their camps. The next morning, extensive
preparations were made in the way of cooking the big dinner which was
to follow immediately after the marriage ceremoney. The place was a kind of
glade in the woods. Pots, kettles and pans were there in profusion and a number
of Indian women were soon immersed in the culinary operations, preparing
beef, bread, coffee, pudding and pie for the marriage feast. About eleven
o'clock the long table was set, and it was announced that the marriage would
now take place. Miss Susan then modestly made her appearance on the spot
selected for the ceremony. A shawl was spread upon the ground, upon which
she seated herself, and four men then took another shawl, and held it, one at
each corner, over her head. ' Halbina, halbina ' (presents, presents) was the cry
that now resounded on every side. Forthwith many came forward and threw
their presents on the shawl upheld by the four men. These presents consisted
of bundles of calico, ribbons and other female paraphernalia, and even some
little money—whatever in fact the donors chose to give. The presents, however,
were not for the bride, but for the female relatives. They were intended
as a kind of remuneration to these relatives for their assistance in cooking the
''= H. S. Halbert, " Courtship and Marriage among the Choctaws of Mississippi," in the
American Naturalist, vol. xvi, pp. 222-224. Philadelphia, 1882.