Marriage Ceremonies

When one thinks of marriage, one thinks of it as the union of two people; however, it is more than that. It is the union of two groups. In the Cherokee culture, it is forbidden to marry within one’s own group because the woman holds the family clan. Therefore they must participate in exogamy, or marrying outside of their exclusive clan. The marriages are usually arranged by the parents of the individuals. The location which the wedding ceremony happens is blessed for seven days. During a marriage ceremony, the bride is represented by both her mother, or clan mother, and her brother. The purpose of her brother standing by her is to vow that he will be responsible for teaching the children spiritual and religious matter, as all Cherokee uncles do. Before the ceremony the wedding party met at the center townhouse and bride and groom exchanged goods. The groom would present the bride with a ham of venison. The venison signifies that he will, “keep meat in the household” (Cherokee Nation Cultural Resource Center n.d.). The bride will give her groom an ear of corn. This symbolizes her willingness to be a good Cherokee housewife. After the exchange of the venison and corn, they feast and dance for hours. The wedding ceremony takes place by a sacred fire. After the bride and groom approach it, they are blessed by a priest or a priestess; all members in attendance of the wedding are blessed as well. The couple is then covered in a blue blanket and is removed at a certain time during the ceremony; they are then covered in a white one. The white blanket symbolizes two lives becoming unified and starting their new life together. Along with the ceremonial blanket covering, the couple must drink from the Cherokee Wedding Vase.

The vase holds one drink within it and two openings so the couple may drink it simultaneously, and is broken to seal the vows. After the ceremony finishes, the clans will celebrate with a feast and dancing for the remainder of the day.

Aboriginal man with his two wives

Marriage in a traditional Aboriginal society consists of an arranged marriage between two people from different groups. The marriages are arranged because they have a strong belief in making connections and being related to the right people is important. When two families come together they are forming an alliance for life; it is important to carefully choose who you want to work with. In a traditional Aboriginal society, “marriage is the central feature” (Hamilton 1981). They also believe that a child only strengthens that bond between the two people and their families. There are strict marriage laws the couple must follow, failure to obey those laws may cause tension between the families. “A man was not able to marry until he had undergone a significant part of the lengthy initiation process: thus, at marriage a man might be in his twenties or even thirties. Girls were usually between 14 and 20 years when they first married, and were frequently widowed at a young age” (Hamilton 1981).  It is not uncommon for a man’s first wife to be a widow, and the second wife will be younger and may even have a husband set out before she is born and grow up knowing who her future husband will be. As a man grows older and his status rises, it is common for him to participate in polygamy.

Although there is no formal written contract of the future marriage it is recommended that the woman marry the man. “Refusal to marry, or to perform obligations to family associated with marriage arrangements, would usually give rise to arguments, but if the prospective husband or wife persisted in refusal, renegotiation was possible. This might involve arranging a substitute or agreeing to compensate the aggrieved person in some way” (ALRC n.d.) The verbal agreement functions as a social contract between the families. Marriage ensures cooperation and the sharing of food resources between territories.

In both cultures, we can see that the marriages are arranges by the parents of the bride and groom. This type of marriage shows that the marriage is a union of the two people but more so a negotiation and alliance for when food is scarce or times are tough. This is a norm for indigenous cultures; they rely heavily on each other in times of need. Another similarity the cultures have in common is when a marriage takes place; the bride is younger than the groom. This may suggest that the individuals value the results of fertility, although the menstrual blood of the women may be seen as a form of pollution according to Mary Douglas’ anthropological model. Both cultures have specific criteria the couple must go through before they are allowed to marry. For example, the Cherokees must exchange the venison ham and the ear of corn; they function as the modern day wedding ring and symbolize their commitment to one another. In the Aboriginal society, there are specific laws that the couple must abide by.   A difference between the two ceremonies is that in the Cherokee marriage is not polygamous like the Aboriginal marriage. This clearly shows a difference in how they view relationships. The Aboriginal man having multiple wives elevates his status and creates more alliance, whereas the Cherokee man only has one wife and a single alliance with the bride’s family.

Bibliography

ALRC. Chapter Two: Aspects of Traditional. http://aija.org.au/Aboriginal%20Benchbook%202nd%20Ed/Chapter%202.pdf (accessed 12 7, 2014).

Australian Government Indigenous. http://www.indigenous.gov.au/. (Accessed December 8, 2014.)

Hamilton, A. Aboriginal Marriages and Family Structures. 1981. http://www.alrc.gov.au/publications/12.%20Aboriginal%20Marriages%20and%20Family%20Structures/marriage-traditional-aboriginal-societie (accessed 12 7, 2014).

Maney, Bigmeat. "Cherokee Wedding Vase." NYU EDU. http://https://files.nyu.edu/csw202/public/wedding/vase.html. (accessed 12 7, 2014).

"The Old Cherokee Wedding." The Old Cherokee Wedding. http://www.cherokee.org/AboutTheNation/Culture/General/TheOldCherokeeWedding.aspx. (accessed 12 7, 2014).

TSepeS, Tavana. "Cherokee Wedding Blanket.".http://www.klingon empire.org/forum/showthread.php?1755-Cherokee-Wedding-Ceremony. (accessed 12 8, 2014).