Native American Wedding Rituals, Dovetailing Perfectly In The Modern Day, Make A Comeback

Indigenous American wedding ceremonies are a joyous occasion, bringing together 15,000 years of history with the modern displays of cultural heritage in a unique way. More and more Americans are paying homage to indigenous American history through weddings, whether that be their own heritage, as exemplified by the Bloomberg featured wedding of Deb Haaland, or simply through including, sensitively, aspects of these weddings in their big day. The fact of the matter is that the rituals and traditions of native American weddings have a significantly smooth interface with modern ideals and principles.

Peak sustainability

The past 18 months has encouraged many Americans to look at their consumption habits and find kinder ways to treat the planet. This ties in with the deep sense of duty and affinity to the earth that many native tribes possess. Cowgirl magazine highlighted how one modern wedding between native Americans tied into that, using sustainable materials and a down-to-earth wedding ceremony that evoked strong images of the native American cultural tradition and the earth itself. Building a sustainable wedding around these principles can add a lot of flavor and a sense to doing good to the day itself.

A sense of strength 

Indigenous American history is filled with turmoil; the wedding has long-served as a way to highlight and build inner-community and family strength in a way that transcends the issues of the day. The Pocono Record highlights the key use of blue blankets around the hands and rings of the couple to be married, a symbol of the protection and strength of the sanctity of the bond to be made. This is a poignant and thoughtful tradition that can easily be continued on and can be a key moment in the wedding ceremony. The modern day has taken on a tumultuous and uncertain aura of its own - finding ways to fight back against that, and find small ways to assert control, can be empowering and set the tone for a happy marriage.

Treasured variety

As NativeAmericanEmbassy.net highlights, there is huge variation in the different native American nations and peoples and how they like weddings to proceed. The Hopi people show the life-long bond of the bride and groom by entwining their long hair; Algonquin traditional marriage forbids divorce, as the wedding is made in dedication to the creator. There are so many different traditions that can cross cultural boundaries but, in many cases, are exacting according to the local nation and to even more localized levels than that. The key for anyone looking to have an authentic native American wedding, or to pay some homage to the local history of the area, is to investigate all of the potential avenues fully.

Introducing native American tradition to the wedding day is an important step in helping to reassert the timeless, priceless culture of the native American nations. This can help, over time, to make everything a little more equitable and for native American tradition to be embedded in the national consciousness.

By Kylee Carter

*Cover image traditional Dine wedding basket