The wooing of Indian lovers varies with the tribes. One pair of lovers
seal their vows by standing a little removed from the parental lodge, with
a blanket covering their heads. In another tribe the negotiations are
made entirely through the parents, when the transaction resolves itself
into a barter, so many ponies for a bride; while in still another tribe,
when a love fancy strikes a young man, he arranges to meet the young woman
who has attracted him as she goes to the river for water. They pass each
other in the path without any recognition. This occurs two or three
times. Finally if the young girl welcomes these attentions she looks
toward him as they pass. That night he comes to the lodge of her parents,
remains outside, beating a tomtom and singing the love song. The young
girl then goes out to meet him and they sit outside and talk. The next
morning the mother asks her daughter about the affair, and then the mother
invites the young man to come and dine with them and sit around the
campfire. Thus the courtship proceeds until he finally says, “I will take
this girl for my wife,” and the two go to their own lodge. The Indian has
an unwritten code of family morals to which he most rigidly adheres. In
some tribes no Indian will cross the threshold of another if the wife of
that man is alone, and in others no brother goes into the house where his
sister is unless she has a companion. This is an ancient law and belongs
to many tribes. The Crows have an eccentric custom that a sister after
marriage is not allowed to be seen in public with her brother. Should an
Indian alienate the affections of the wife of another Indian or steal his
horse the injured one would be justified in taking his rifle and killing
the offender. The whole camp would sanction the action on the ground that
it would rid the camp of bad blood.
[Little Friends]