Chief Indian weddings have a strong national flavor.
The wedding is usually held in a public building in an Indian settlement, usually a large wooden house. During the wedding ceremony, relatives and friends, neighbors and residents of the village come to the wooden house one after another, and all sit on the ground and greet each other. Men, women and children dressed in national costumes of novel styles and bright colors. Although the Indians were cheerful, they were very quiet at the wedding, even if they spoke softly. [3]
Indian marriage is very simple. When it comes to union, parents’ consent is all that is needed.
The wealth of the Indians was not measured by property. The richest man was the most able hunter. The dowry of the woman was good health and a willingness to help her husband in the household. When they do not want to live together, they can be separated by a ceremony as simple as marriage without any problems of division of property.
There was no distinction between unmarried and married couples, and chastity was not considered a basic moral standard. Moreover, among very friendly friends, wives are exchanged for the night, and this is regarded as the strongest kind of friendship.
When the master or mistress of a family dies, the children sometimes recognize their parents’ best friends as parents, just as Christians recognize their godparents or godmothers.
In Indian tribes, men always marry to enhance the political status and prestige of the “head of the house.” The Singu tribe, for example, allows polygamy because one more wife is one more “union representative,” one more labor force. A man may marry two or more sisters from the same family, or women from other tribes. Wives in polygamous families also take pride in their efforts to extend their husband’s authority and status.
Sometimes for the sake of family harmony, the wife can suggest her husband marry a woman to act as the “matchmaker” of “husband”.