Native American Weddings

After a Navojo Wedding

Like in most cultures, Navojo Indians have a certain traditions that they keep to after a wedding, but some of them are very unique compared to western customs. After the wedding, the bride and groom are separated to be prepared for a feast. During the feast, the couple is at a table where only they sit at the front of the room. The bride sits at the right hand of the groom. This represents that he is virtually useless without her. Though he is useless without her, he is still the head of the household and of higher rank, so his seat is more elevated than hers. After the feast, there is no honeymoon. Honey moons are considered to be frivolous and are looked down upon by tribe elders. The couple immediately moves in to a home built or purchased by the bride’s parents. The house is considered to be a sort of dowry. The newlyweds are expected to do some forms of community service are give charity. Among the most popular are preparing meals for the sick and elderly, giving clothing to the needy and giving gifts to friends and family. The couple does this as a way to present themselves to the community. Gifts would come to the couple up to two years after the event of the wedding. Gifts of food, children’s clothing, jewelry, tools, and weapons are most common. The Navojo Indians have many unique customs that are still, even after hundreds of years, being closely followed and loved.


Planning a Native Indian Wedding

Native American Weddings may take a long time to plan, but there are several steps that make the process so much easier. Most couples choose to be married at their villages’ most spiritual place. This would be like a Christian getting married in a Church or a Jew getting married in a Synagogue. In a Native Indian wedding, the tribe’s high priest would marry the couple. He would have to recite a prayer to the “Great Spirit” to bless the couple. The couple must choose the prayer they want to be recited at the ceremony. Prayer themes include happiness, love, and fertility. The priest will announce the wedding at a village assembly. In most cases, there are no invitations. The whole village is present when the Priest announces the wedding so therefore everyone is expected to attend the event. A season before the wedding, the bride must go to the groom’s female relatives and ask for their help to make her wedding robes. The groom will hunt for hide to make her dress and for hide to make his pants and moccasins. The bride must go to the priest and ask for three blankets to be prepared. Two small blue ones and one large white ones. The blue ones represent the sorrows, pain, and mistakes that the couple made before they were joined as one. The white one represents the purity, happiness, and sanctity of marriage. There are many steps in planning an Indian wedding, but the end result is worth the weight and means a lot to the bride and groom and to the community.

Hopi Wedding Traditions

A Hopi wedding is very different from other Native American events. The Hopi tribe has unique traditions that are different even to other Native cultures. If a Hopi boy wants a girl to become his bride, he makes her a fine pair of moccasins. He hand makes them and hand beads them. He leaves them on her doorstep and waits for the girl to come out. If she accepts the moccasins, she also accepts him. If she accepts him, she must go to the groom’s uncles and ask them to weave her wedding robes for her. In the Hopi tribe, men are the weavers. Only blood family members are allowed to attend the wedding ceremony, but the whole village is encouraged to attend the following feast. A Hopi wedding takes so long to plan, the couple may already have several children by the time the wedding takes place. The children are highly involved and even have a roll in presenting the bride with her wedding bracelet-a beaded strip of yucca root that represents the union to her husband, which is tied to her wrist and may not be taken off as long as the two are married. This is not taken lightly, considering how serious a Hopi wedding is. A Hopi wedding is such a serious event that the bride may not even smile during the ceremony. It is considered disrespectful to the groom’s family. Hopi wedding are very serious, there is no tribe that has such a greater need for family and love, making a Hopi wedding an event that is one in a million.

The Wedding and Marraige of Pocahontas

Pocahontas was the favored daughter of a great Powhatan Chief. They lived in what is now Virginia, near James Town. She met a man named John Rolfe who fell in love with her. He wrote to the Governor of Jamestown permission to wed her. He wrote of his beliefs that the wedding would save her soul and he was not requesting to marry a heathen to “satisfy savagely carnal desire”. He was granted permission as long as she was baptized into the Church of England. They traveled to England to be married. Pocahontas was christened as Rebecca Rolfe. She was married on April 5, 1614. She was nineteen years old when she married. This was considered old for a beautiful Native American princess. On her wedding day she wore an English dress of fine muslin, a long veil, a Native American robe, and a necklace of fresh water pearls that were a gift from her father, Chief Powhatan. . Her uncle and her two brothers traveled to England to attend the wedding, but her father refused to go. But he didn’t want his beloved daughter to think he didn’t love her for leaving the clan, so he gave the couple land north of Jamestown. They moved back to America and built a house on the land. They also started a tobacco plantation. It was named Varina Plantation for the sort of Spanish tobacco Rolfe grew. They had one son, Thomas Rolfe, born on January 30, 1615. Pocahontas “Rebecca” Rolfe died March 21, 1617 at the age of twenty two.


Coming of Age

Coming of age is very important to Native cultures and in most cases is taken more seriously than a wedding. Coming of age is when a boy or girl may begin to court. Unlike in most cultures, Native American coming of age is not a predetermined year. A girl may begin courting after she has begun menstruating. A boy may begin courting when his father deems him mature enough to join on a tribal hunt. A girl’s coming of age is taken way more seriously than boys. Feasts may be held up to a month after she begins to menstruate. Clans make it particularly easy for teens to begin courtships. Dances and parties are often held for teen to meet, flirt, and begin courting. Girls were encouraged to marry early in order to have as much time as possible with her husband to have many children. Though girls were encouraged to marry early, they were never married against their will. Sometimes, girls were also encouraged to stay virgins until their wedding night. If they did not, they were at least encouraged to maintain an innocent appearance so that tribe elders would not look down upon them. In other cases, love affairs were openly embraced. They may or may not be followed in marriage. In most cultures, the wedding is most focused on, but the Native Americans believe what leads up to the wedding is just as important.

Goodnight and Go

Dear David Intro

" Dear David,

"There are so many days when I feel like giving up- when I feel like when I choose to give myself to God, I loose everyone I ever loved. I was sure you were in his plan for me. I love you and just as I get my life strait, I oose. you. I loose you and fall right back down. It'f funny how things work- when your happy and don't want anything to change, He'll take it all away just to give you a little perspective.

"But for every day I feel like giving up there are two when I'm happy for what we had when you were here. And when I feel like giving up I think of what you would ask me . You'd ask 'Why don't Spartain Women give up?' I'd laugh and say, 'Because we need Spartain Women to give birth to Spatain Men.' So for you Sparta, I'll stay strong. I love you.

"Your devoted sister,
"Beth"

I read the letter one last time, and with a sad smile and tears welling in my eyes, I hand it to the mortition.

"Could you tuck this in his breast pocket?" He nodded solemnly and took the letter from me. And he began to walk away.

Leif Ericson Claymation

For the past month, we have been working on stop frame claymation movies in American Studies class. My movie was about the first European explorer to step foot on North American soil, Leif Ericson, son of famous Viking explorer, Eric the Red. I learned a lot while making my movie and a lot of what I learned had nothing to do with explorers or Leif. I learned a lot about myself while making Leif Ericson: The first North American Exploration. It was a fun and difficult project.
I had a ton of fun making the sets, props, and characters. I’m a right-brained person, so the artistic part of the project really appealed to me. It was interesting to see how we could make our figures stand up straight and be practical, while still making them visually pleasing. My partner, Kelsey, and I had a very different view on what the people should look like. We decided that one of us should make the people, and the other one would make the sets and props. I ended up with making the people, which proved a challenge, as they always fell down! Eventually, we make the sets and characters look as perfect (and be as practical) as they ever would be. I enjoyed that challenge. But the challenge of making the figures was nothing compares with the challenge of working with Kelsey.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Kelsey Crooks to death, but working with her was harder than I’d expected. We fought constantly and it was hard to get anything done. I think that that is why we turned in a few animations late-because we spent so much time arguing and not enough time working to get our project done on time. Though we are the best of friends outside of class, our personalities clash too much to be in the work environment together. Kelsey is very laid back and takes things as they come. I, on the other hand, am very controlling and refused to give her the control and input that she deserved. I think I was a little bit over bearing and lost my temper easily, so that stressed Kelsey out, and as a result, we communicated poorly. I need to let some of that control go and figure out how to be more like Kelsey.
I learned a lot of new things while working on this project, and though I learned a lot about the first Europeans who came to our country, I think I learned more about myself. I learned about my strong points and short comings. I never realized how controlling I could be. I realized that the very thing that made me strong on my own made me feeble in a group setting. On the other hand, I learned that I was good at solving problems. Weather it was problems with Kelsey, problems with our characters, or problems that another group needed help with, I was able to fix it. I think that that made our group stronger. We were able to overcome communication problems and even technical problems due to my problem solving skills.
The stop frame project was a good experience. I had fun doing it and learned more than I’ve ever learned while working on a single project. Technical skills and problem solving are qualities that the students of American Studies class will take with them and use in the future. I’m glad we did this project and hope we do more like it.

Halloween

Hey. Sorry I haven't written in a while. My computer had a virus, so I couldn't get on to blogger.

I had a great time last Wednesday (Halloween!!!!!). I went to my friend Sarahs house after school. I dressed up as Sally from the Nightmare Before Christmas. Sarah was Pocahantus. We went to her church for dinner and they had a haunted house. It was fun. I met alot of new people and her bishop. The Mormons are really nice-I don't agree with alot of what they believe in, but as a people, they are good. The haunted house was really scary!!! This guy named Kip grabbed Sarahs legs and she fell ontop of him and I fell ontop of Sarah. It was dark and we couldn't see anything. I screamed so loud!!!!! Her brother, Nick, grabbed my shoulders and I was so scared, I cried. But all in all it was a good night.

AFI Rear Window Essay

Recently after breaking his left leg, photographer J.P. Jeffries was confined to his apartment. Stricken with boredom, he uses an old pair of binoculars to observe neighbors across the garden. Having a grim outlook on marriage and his future with his girlfriend, Lisa Fremont, his sights are particularly set on a married couple, whose husband, Lars Thorwald, is a salesman, and wife is sickly in bed. Jeff gets a certain amount of amusement from “spying” on these people. But soon, it’s no longer a game. Jeff notices some odd behavior in the married couple’s apartment, and shortly after the wife disappears entirely. Jeff must decide weather he thinks that the peculiar husband is a killer, of if his mind is playing games with him, and must find the strength to solve a case where no one believes the is a case to be investigated.

Jeff has a provincial look on marriage. His caretaker is convinced Lisa is the girl for him. He refuses to admit it because he’s afraid she might be right. But he couldn’t deny that he loved Lisa-she was the only one who believed him about Thorwald, and even when he wasn’t sure about what was going on, she stood by him. But she too got sucked into Jeff’s investigation and her life was almost lost because of her curiosity, but after coming close to loosing her, Jeff was sure of his feelings for her. Though at the end of the movie they don’t marry, Jeff defiantly has a better outlook on the situation.

Jeff also learns a lot about not doubting himself. He continually tells one of his colleagues about his suspicions regarding the murder of Mrs. Thorwald. He continually tells Jeff that he’s just imagining everything. His caretaker and even Lisa occasionally doubt him. But he never wavers and, though his suspicions lead to another broken leg, he was right about Mr. Thorwald. His standing firm allowed a threatening killer to be caught and that wouldn’t have happened if he’d been indecisive.

In addition to learning about self reliance, he also learned a lot depending on others. Since he had broken his leg and was left in a wheelchair, he was somewhat helpless. His caregiver was there to make sure that he didn’t do anything unwise, to make him breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and other everyday things that he was used to doing by himself. At the end, when Thorwald discovers that it was Jeff who turned him in, he went to Jess’s apartment to kill Jeff. His only defense mechanism was a camera flash, but that only lasted him so long before Thorwald pushed him out of a window. He relied on the police to catch him. He learned that he couldn’t be alone forever if he wanted to live long and happy.

Over the course of the film, Jeff learned a lot about himself and others and how to deal with others. He realized that speaking up and taking a stand was important, but relying on others was also a big deal. Over all, Jeff learned a thing of two about life and how to live it.

Summer Experience Essay

My world is spinning and I see nothing but a blur of hazing lights and jeering faces. My fear of heights obstructs all clarity from view. I feel as though I have no way out-like I’m screaming in this crowded place and no one cares enough to look up. I show the ticket master my wrist and he opens the gate for me. He can smell my fear. I warily advance to the suspended seat. Once I’m sitting, he locks me in. He sneers at me. “Good luck.”
I feel the world fall out from beneath me. I think I’m moving, but I’m not sure because my eyes are shut tight. I feel a gentle breeze kiss my nose and I begin to wonder if everything is all right. But when I open my eyes, I’m not sure what to think. I’m a thousand feet up and I’m all alone. I can see the entire fair and even though I’m terrified, I’m amazed. Somehow, I can’t shut my eyes. I could see all of the lights and people that before I was so afraid of. I don’t understand it, but some how looking upon the whole site rather than from just one point brought clarity to it. The music, the sights, the people-somehow they all came together now ant I wasn’t so scared. I didn’t feel so high up any more. I now feel as if I’m flying. I feel like I’m independent and nothing can bring me down.
The ride comes to an abrupt stop. The ticket master’s eyes have softened. He lets me off. “Thank you,” I said to him. I run up to my family.
My mother laughs. “Emily, you’re beaming,” she said, her British accent thick. Good, I think, I should be. I took an important risk and for the first time I didn’t let my fear of heights stop me from flying.

Beautiful Lilly

“Jasper! Jasper!” I came as the young girl called out to me. Her name was Lilly. She was nine years old, though she looked and acted as if she were five.I couldn’t help but smile when she called out for me at night, fearing the monsters from under the bed. She needed me. But then again, I needed her. I needed someone to protect, someone to love.

Her parents had left me to watch her, as they did many nights. Over the months Lilly and I had developed a sort of bond, almost like we were friends. I knew this might be the last time I saw her. I was leaving for London soon, leaving for a place my mom called home. But I couldn’t tell Lilly. She would be crushed.
I felt a tear come to my eye, bet I quickly wiped it away and put a fake smile on my face. I didn’t dare let her see me upset.

“Lilly,” I smiled warmly at her “, are those monsters trying to scare you again?” She shook her head. “Well then, what is wrong, dearest?”

“Jasper, can I ask you a question?”

“Anything.”

“Do you want to be my best friend?” she stared down at her doll, fiddling around with its arms.

“I… that would be wonderful,” I noticed a tear rolling down her face. “Lilly,” I touched her cheek, wishing I could see her happy, one last time. “Lilly, look at me. All you need to do is remember that no matter what, I will always love you.” I looked into her eyes and smiled, though fighting back my own tears.


This is just a prologue, so tll me if you think I should continue.

Power Outage

Yesterday at the volleyball game, Eighth Grade Varsity played one match, then, just as the ref was about to start the second, the lights in the gym dimmed and were dull for a few minutes. I looked at Coach and said "Can we still play if the power's out?" Right when I said it, the whole gym was black. The whole room was filled with screams. 'Oh brother,' I thought, 'It's just dark. Chill out.' We all waited for the power to come back on, but it didn't. After about twenty minutes, Coach told us that the games were over. They called it a tie and the team from Darrington went home. I was so dissapointed because my friend Lincoln went to see me play my last game, and he didn't get a chance to. We took my best friend, Sarah home, and went to take Lincoln home. He went to the front door and it was locked, so he tried to open the garrage, but that didn't work because there was no power to open it, so he came to our house. It was fun, but he spent most of the time talking to my dad about golf and how much better off the world would be if there weren't Democrats and Comunists. They talked about the militay and how Lincoln wanted to follow after his brother and join the Army. I enjoyed seeing my daddy approve of one of my guy friends. Lincoln stayed for dinner and Jason came over for dinner too. Jason, my brother, has been house-sitting for my Uncle Chuck and Aunt Linda for a month. I miss him so much (even though he thinks he's a Spartan[see pic]), but I don't want him to know I don't hate him.

October 18, 2007

We have a volleyball game today. We're playing Darrington. We beat them last time, so I'm sure we'll destroy them! We didn't do so good yesterday though. We played at Kings and they're really good. They are a private school, so I'm sure they recruit their players. JV tied. I won the first game for us by making a serve and getting and ace, but we lost the second one. Varsity lost all three games. I was so mad because Coach Mandy didn't play me on Varsity and I would have done good, and we could have gone out with a little bit of dignity, but I can't stay mad at Mandy for more than like two seconds, so I can't complain. Hailey Blavka was at the game. We were never really friends, but I guess it was cool to talk to her and see her again. Anyways, I'll writ more after we KILL Darrington.

I wonder

I sing among the rightous,

You slave among the damned.

I wonder if I should choose to fall,

So I could hold your hand.

I wonder if your blood tears,

Would turn to ones of joy.

Despite your death-felt pain,

Despite my helpless crys.

Is our love forever lost,

Seeing your darkened past.

I fear that if I choose to fall,

For you I still won't last.

(c)Emily_Beautiful_Cherub

Art: (c)Chantel Jones

Beautiful Willow

Beautiful willow,

With you I shall weep.

Comforting gaze,

Rock me to sleep.

Afraid and alone,

I can’t bear to see.

All of the tears,

That used to be me.

Beautiful willow,

On you I shall lean.

Beautiful dawn,

A comforting scene.

(c)Emily_Beautiful_Cherub

My Phantom

I looked at his face

And saw a monster.

I looked at his body

And saw a man.

I looked into his eyes

And saw sorrow.

I listened to his voice

And heard an angel.

I kissed him

And felt passion.

There were no faults on him

But on me.

I left him there

To die alone.

I left him

All for a man of worldly beauty,

Truly blinded to what beauty really was.

All to be haunted

By his memory.

By my Phantom,

My Angel,

My Love.

Art: Her Phantom (c) Foxfires

Poem: My Phantom (c) Emily_Beautiful_Cherub

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Hey!!1!

This is my new blog. I'm using it to post my writing and journals for school, so enjoy!