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SwANTONj CHOCTAW SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL LIFE 133
marriage dinner. When all the presents had been deposited on the shawl, Miss
Susan arose, walked off about fifty yards, where some of her female friends
were assembled, and again seated herself. Here the presents were brought,
taken possession of by some of the women and distributed among Miss Susan's
female kinsfolk. At the same time that Miss Susan had seated herself on the
shawl, and while the men were holding the other shawl over her head, Mr.
Chubbee came within about twenty feet of her, spread a blanket on the ground
and seated himself upon it, and quietly waited for the passive part he was to
perform in giving a finality to the marriage ceremony. When Miss Susan rose
from the ground, some half a dozen men, relatives of Chubbee, came forward
and seated themselves in a line on his left. The male relatives [of the bride]
now in succession, approached the patient bridegroom, addressing him by the
title of relationship created by the marriage, and then delivered a short
complimentary or congratulatory address.
" When each had finished his talk to Chubbee, he then moved along the line,
and shook hands with each one of Chubbee's seated kinsmen, calling him
by the term of relationship created by the marriage, to which the kinsman
responded simply by the assenting term Ma. For instance, A shook hands with
B, and simply said Amoshi ma, (my uncle) to which B responded with Ma.
The Choctaw terms of relationship and their application are very intricate and
perplexing to a white man. The following is the very short congratulatory
address of one of the old Indians, George Washington, to Oliver Chubbee,
' Nittak chashpo hokno sabaiyi chi ahanchi li beka tok akinli kia himak a°
annumpa holitopa chi anochi lishke. Sayup chi ahanchi 11 hoke.' In former
days I called you sabaiyi [my sister's son], but now I put a sacred name on
you,—I call you sayup [my son-in-law]. Only two or three women came forward
and spoke to the bridegroom and to him alone, for they paid no attention
to the other men on the ground. To a subsequent inquiry made to George
Washington as to the cause of so few women coming to give the bridegroom
the term of relationship, the response was ' Ohoyo at takslii fehna,' Women are
very modest. When the men had finished their little congratulatory talks to
Chubbee, the marriage was complete, and bride and bridegroom were now one.
Without any further ceremony dinner was now announced to which all hands
forthwith repaired and did it full justice. As a general thing, after the feast
comes the big dance which was omitted on this occasion. Generally too an
old-fashioned Choctaw wedding takes place about sunset, after which comes
the big feast and the night-long big dance. In another feature Chubbee's
wedding differed from the usual old style, for commonly the couple sit side
by side, and the wedding gifts are placed upon the head of the bride and are
instantly snatched off by her kin. With the usual Indian impassiveness Chubbee
did not go near or even look at his bride until all got ready to go home,
which was about the middle of the afternoon."
Following is Bushnell's account of the ceremonies known to the
Choctaw of Bayou Lacomb
The marriage ceremony as performed until a few years ago, at a time when
there were many Choctaw living in the region, was thus described by the
women at Bayou Lacomb.
When a man decided he wanted to marry a certain girl he confided in his
mother, or if she was not living, in his nearest female relative. It was then
necessary for her to talk with the mother or the nearest living relative of the
girl, and if the two women agreed, they in turn visited the chiefs or heads of
the two ogla, or families, to get their consent to the union. As a man was not