siOBX; - Smithsonian Institution

SWANTON] CHOCTAW SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL. LIFE 135
Before either party sat down to eat, the girl, at a given signal,
started away on the run and the youth pursued her, she being as-
sisted by her relatives and he by his. After she had been caught
and brought back to the scene of the festivities, she was seated
beside her intended husband, and his relatives brought quantities
of cloth, ribbons, and similar things, as also various kinds of food,
such as bread, beef, and pork, which was allowed to rest upon the
girl's head for a minute and then gathered up by her uncle, who
tied the cloth up in bundles. These presents cost perhaps $60 to $75,
and by them the girl was " bound."
Then each family feasted the other, the relatives of the girl eating
first. That made them kindred and they shook hands.
The girl's people now brought baskets, sacks, and other similar
receptacles and her uncle distributed to them in succession the arti-
cles provided by the groom. These had been placed in a pile and the
distribution was made indifferently, beginning at the top, so that it
was a matter of chance who received the best pieces.
Finally the chief delivered a long address, directed mainly to the
newly married couple, telling them that they must be faithful until
death and take good care of each other when either was sick. The
chief also extended his remarks to the other young people, warning
them not to run away to marry, and, so that the world might stand
a great deal longer, not to marry near relatives. If they married
persons already connected by blood, they would not know how to
name their relatives. Thus the same man would be called father-
in-law and uncle, and they wanted the names to be applied to dif-
ferent individuals.
From Simpson Tubby I gathered the following information.
The old people used to watch their children carefully, especially
during the dances, to discover what attachments were springing up
between them and prevent any taking root between those who were
too closely related or whose associations were too distant or too
diverse. That was the way in which they kept their children pure.
Mention has been made already of the taboos against marriage
within the iksa and the still older taboo against marriage within
the moiety. It is also said that they would not allow those related
within four degrees to marry, no matter to what iksa they belonged,
and that fifth cousins might marry only if they could prove there
was nobody more distantly related who would make a suitable
partner. (Claiborne mentions the case of a Choctaw named Pah-
lubbee who married his step-daughter but was widely censured in
consequence.^*)
''* Claiborne, Miss., i, p. 521.