Native American Wedding Ceremony

Now you will feel no rain for each of you will be shelter for the other

Now you will feel no cold for each of you will be warmth for the other

Now there is no loneliness

Now you are two persons but there is only one life before you

Go now to your dwelling to enter into the days of your life together and may your days be good and long upon the earth

("Wedding Braids" by Stan Davis)

A priest escorts the groom to one end of the open space in the council house (north or south)

A priest escorts the bride to the opposite end of the space.

The couple meet at the center, near the sacred fire ( the sacred fire is the gift of light, knowledge, heat ... the bedrock of civilization)

The priest stands, facing the east, toward the door of the council house ( groom on one side, bride on the other)

The groom’s mother stands beside the groom. (children belong to the mother, and her family) She holds the gifts of venison and a blanket (food and a warm bed for his wife - symbols of his ability to support her)

The brides mother stands beside the bride. She holds the gifts of corn and a tanned skin (food and clothing for her warrior/husband to be)

The brides brother stands behind his mother. The brother accepts responsibility for his sister and her children (he will be the godfather if the husband is killed)

The bride and groom wear blue blankets over their shoulders (traditional symbol of their Old Ways - single life)

The priest says a prayer blessing the sacred fire and the marriage union. (thanks to God for his blessings)

The priest asks the Great Spirit for a long and happy life for the couple.

The bride gives the groom a red and black (cloth) belt that she has made.

The groom accepts and puts on the belt. (accepts the union) (replaces the wedding ring in modern society)

The mothers give their gifts to their children. The bride and groom exchange these gifts. (marriage is acceptable by the mothers)

The bride and groom join their blankets, symbolizing mutual support ( both under the double blue blankets)

The bride and groom share a corn drink from a double sided vessel. (Share the fruits of their labors - crushed dried corn and water)

They drink East, West, North, South (declaring their marriage to all the earth)

The priest drinks Up toward the Heavens, Down to Mother Earth, and toward the couple (Only the priest can ‘address’ the spirits of Heaven and Earth to bless the union. After the spirits of heaven and earth have been asked to bless the union, the priest directs the spirits attention to the bride and groom. They are the ‘center’ of the union, and must constantly reflect on their inner thoughts to make the marriage work. )

The vessel is thrown down and broken, to seal the wedding vows.

The broken fragments are buried (returned to mother earth)

The blue blankets are shed and a white blanket is wrapped over the shoulders of the couple, symbolizing the union. (symbol of happiness)

A wedding feast is held (traditionally by the whole village, but not practical today)

The couple walk silently and alone to their dwelling place, among the bride’s family

(the groom goes to live with the wife’s clan and the house belongs to her. The children also will belong to the wife's clan, having her brothers more responsibility and control over them than the father).

God in heaven above

please protect the ones we love.

We honor all you created as we pledge

our hearts and lives together.

We honor mother-earth

and ask for our marriage to be abundant

and grow stronger through the seasons;

We honor fire

and ask that our union be warm

and glowing with love in our hearts;

We honor wind

and ask we sail though life

safe and calm as in our father's arms;

We honor water

to clean and soothe our relationship

that it may never thirsts for love;

With all the forces of the universe you created,

we pray for harmony and true happiness as we forever grow young together.

Amen.

Or

2. (TO THE COUPLE) A Native American Blessing)

Above you are the stars, below you are the stones.

As time does pass, remember;

Like a star should your love be constant.

Like a stone should your love be firm.

Be close, yet not too close.

Possess one another, yet be understanding.

Have patience with the other; for storms will come, but they will go quickly.

Be free in giving of affection and warmth.

Make love often, and be sensuous to one another.

Have no fear, and let not the ways of words of the unenlightened give you unease.

For the Great Spirit is with you, now and always.

Blanket Ceremony with traditional vows

Traditional Vows (if desired)

(REPEAT VOWS)

I, (NAME,) take you (NAME,) as my (wife, husband). I do solemnly avow my love for you. I will comfort you, keep you, love you, defend you in sickness or in health, in riches or poverty, in sorrow or joy, seeking only to be with you until death parts us. All these things I pledge upon my honor. ¤

The Mothers will wrap the wedding blanket around Bride & Groom.

(RING BLESSING)

Circles have no beginning and has no end, and so in the long and sacred tradition of marriage rings have come to symbolize eternal love and endless union of body, of mind, and of the spirit. ………… Aho!

(EXCHANGE RINGS)

This ring is a symbol of my love and faithfulness, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you, and pledge to you my love and life.

(BLESSING of the baskets)

Father Sky and Mother Earth, creator and nurturer of all life, we give heartfelt thanks for the moment that brought ( , ) together in the Holy State of Marriage…….. Aho! ¤

Now as you (NAME ) and you (NAME ) have consented together in matrimony and have pledged your faith to each other by the giving and the receiving of these rings before your family and Community; according to the powers invested in me by the State of (your state),

I NOW PRONOUNCE THAT YOU ARE HUSBAND AND WIFE.

(KISS THE BRIDE)

Minister walks Bride & Groom to the blanket spread on the ground. Minister unties the Wedding Blanket. Sisters will fold the blanket and put it in a safe place.