BENBEN: The Old Cherokee Wedding

Weddings are very important step in any person's life, and many people see the ritual of marriage as one of most important and meaningful. Each culture approaches marriage rites differently, and each culture has its own customs. Modern weddings often mandate an expensive white dress, ceremony in a church or temple, a reception with food and dancing, a bridal party, and an exchange of rings. For us, weddings are days of commitment and romance. Few of us have opened our minds or consciousness to outside of our own limited world view. 

The Old Cherokee Wedding, a once beautiful and meaningful event, is not practiced like it once was by members of the Cherokee Nation. The traditional Cherokee wedding ceremony iS one ceremony that is virtually unknown to people outside of the Cherokee people. It is a ceremony of beauty and culture. While the ceremony varies from clan to clan and community community, the same ritual elements are generally used. 

Clanship is matrilineal in the Cherokee society, and one does not marry within one's own clan. When a man and a woman marry, the man traditionally moves to the bride's family. The children of the couple will belong to the mother's clan rather than the fathers. 

The Cherokee Nation has marriage law, and Cherokee couples are not required to obtain a marriage license. Cherokees can marry under the Cherokee Nation, a sovereign government, rather than under the state (in the USA). The person conducting the marriage must be licensed by the Cherokee Nation, and is typically a priest 22 or priestess. After they are married, paperwork is filed with the Cherokee Nation District Court, where it will remain on file. 

The place of the marriage ceremony must be blessed by a priest/priestess for seven consecutive days before the ceremony can begin. When the day of the wedding arrives, there is anxiety and excitement in the air. To begin the ceremony, a priest will escort the groom to one end of an open space on the grounds of the ceremony. He is taken either to the North or to the South. The priest then escorts the bride, who typically wears a "tear dres" (scissors were not typical inside Cherokee homes, so women tore pieces of fabric into squares or rectangles to make their dresses), to the space opposite the groom. The bride and groom then approach the sacred fire (a gift of light, knowledge, and heat), and meet near the fire. 

The groom's mother stands behind the groom, as he is a child of her family. She holds gifts (often in a basket) of meat and a blanket or skins. The contents of the basket are symbols of the groom's intention of providing for his wife and family. The bride's mother stands beside the bride, holding gifts of corn and bean-bread, symbolizing the bride's commitment to nurture and care for her husband and new family. These gifts also honor the tradition of men hunting and women tending the farms, and reflects the roles of Kanati (the first man) and Selu (the first woman). The bride's brother also stands with the bride, behind their mother. The brother accepts responsibility for his sister and her children, as he will be responsible for them should the husband die. 

The bride and groom wear blue blankets over their shoulders. Their blankets are a symbol of their single life and old ways. The priest then says a prayer to bless the sacred fire and the new union. He then asks the Great Spirit for a long and happy life for the couple, and the bride gives the groom a red and black cloth belt that she has made. When the groom puts it on, he accepts the union. 

The mothers then give the gifts they are holdling to their children, and the bride and the groom exchange the gifts. This is a symbol of acceptance of the marriage by the mothers. The bride and groom then join their blankets, and now they are both under the two blue blankets. This act symbolizes their mutual support for each other. 

Next, the couple drinks from the Cherokee Wedding Vase. The vase holds just one drink, but has two openings so that both the bride and the groom can drink from it at the same time. They drink to the East, West, North, and South, declaring their union to all of the Earth. The priest or priestess then drinks up towards the heavens, then down to Earth. He is addressing the spirits of Heaven and Earth and is asking them to bless the union. He then drinks toward the couple. The Cherokee Wedding Vase is then thrown down and broken, sealing the wedding vows. The broken fragments of the vase are returned to the Earth (buried) and the blue blankets are replaced with one white blanket that is draped over the couple, symbolizing their new happy life together. 

After the ceremony, a feast is held. Traditionally, the feast is sponsored by the whole village. The couple then retires to their quarters in the brides mother's compound. Meanwhile, the feast and celebration continues, often until the next day.