Marriage : Ojibway Traditions
When an Ojibwe man decides that he really loves a woman and would like to take her hand in marriage, he must hunt and kill an animal then bring it to the family of the woman he is trying to pursue. This gesture acts as a symbolic offering to show the woman's family he can provide for a family of his own. The decision of whether the couple will be married now lies in the woman's family's hands, her opinion is not necessarily taken into consideration. For the woman, marriage meant economical stability and it was not unheard of for a woman to be given away by her family as a form of payment for service. Assuming the family feels the man makes a good fit, he would be invited in for a meal. The family would cook and eat the man's catch during this meal as a symbol of his appreciation and acceptance into the family.
In Ojibwe culture, when a male and female chose to marry, whose tribe they would join was usually based on location of settlement. Ojibway people are not permitted to marry within their own tribe. In the warmer climate areas, the man typically went with the women’s family, embracing a matriarchal society. However, in the colder climate areas, the female would traditionally join the males tribe and follow a patriarchal society. A male was considered ready to marry anytime after completing his vision quest. For a female, she must've had her first period before being considered eligible for marriage.
For women traditional wedding attire included a white dress and white moccasins made from deer or elk skins and would be designed/created by the bride herself. For men, attire included black pants, a ribbon shirt and moccasins.
Before the wedding, the couple is required to choose 4 sponsors, whom must be elders. The sponsors will promise to help the couple throughout their marriage, providing guidance, counsel and wisdom. On the morning of the wedding, the bride will bathe in a body of water such as a lake or river. Bathing in the Earth's natural waters is a symbolic act of being blessed by mother Earth.
The marriage ceremony lasts 3 days. Each day being a different celebration: (1) Feasting (2) Visiting and (3) Giveaway.
Day One - Feasting.
Typical feasting foods include: fry bread, deer meat, squash, beans, 3 sisters soup, fresh berries and many desserts. Before eating the prepared feast, the couples' 4 chosen sponsors will
bless the food. All of the food from the feast must be eaten or given to the elders.
Day Two - Visiting.
On the second day of the wedding, The couple visits with both sides of the family for personal blessings.
Day Three - The Giveaway.
On the third day, a ceremony takes place where the bride is given away to her groom and the newly wed couple joins the tribe accordingly. Typically this ceremony will take place beneath an arbor or arch.
The bride and groom will make or buy lots of gifts as a gift must be given to each wedding guest at the final giveaway ceremony. The officiant of the wedding is called a pipe carrier. He allows the couple to each make a declaration of love. The couple take 7 clock-wise steps together, saying a vow with each step. The pipe carrier will then light a pipe of tobacco for the couple to smoke, sending their love to the creator and officiating the marriage. The couple will then each take up a blue blanket, representing their old lives, and be followed by their relatives to the fire circle. The fire circle is prepared with 7 different types of wood burning into one single fire representing the unification of the couple and their families. The couple will toss the blue blankets into the circle of fire while their relatives shroud a single white blanket upon them. This blanket represents their new lives together; love; happiness; fulfillment and peace.
In a marriage, the man's major role is to provide a good livelihood for his new family. Rarely is love a key issue of the marriage, instead it is a relationship of survival and maintenance of life. A female is regarded as mature and responsible once she has been wed, regardless of age. Being married, for both sexes, means no longer having to live under their parent's authority.
The woman's life will now be mainly focused on the care of her family and the majority of her life will exist within the home's private sphere. Her daily duties will now be focused on feeding her family (cooking, making baskets, drying out meats, harvesting rice and berries), childcare and maintaining the lodge (cleaning, making blankets & rugs). However, the woman's duties were to compliment the man's work (e.g hunting the meat, providing supplies) while he maintained the public sphere. An important part of the man's duties includes keeping his female counterpart content.
Divorce is fairly uncommon in Ojibway culture and was not permitted until the late 1450's. If a man was found guilty of cheating on his wife or being disloyal in any other way, he would whipped by the women of the tribe. An disloyal wife would have all of her possessions taken away and she would turned out by the tribe. When one of the couple passes away, the spouse typically goes through a one year mourning period after which they permitted to re-marry.
Modern Influence On Ojibwe Marriage
European influences have rendered a culture of male dominance and female inferiority which, in some cases, have diminished the complimentary relationship lifestyle. Modern times have also brought forth more recognition to individual achievement rather than team effort, giving the women more desire to move on to the public sphere themselves. European influences have also come to diminish the concept of particular sex-roles, forcing women to adapt to new roles in society. While the women's main interest still seems to resonate within the family, they have found other ways to carry on their family duties while maintaining a more public life, such as having a career, joining a club and going to the gym.
European government plagued the First Nations and forced Indigenous people to reservations, burrowing the Indigenous population. Many tribes were mixed together. Population decrease and joint tribes has resulted into many tribes now allowing inter-tribal/inter-reservation marriage.
Putting these new factors in place has destroyed some Indigenous people's concept of marriage. As women no longer have to rely on a male counterpart for stability and can instead be a provider of their own, marriage seems to be viewed as more of an optional life choice instead.
Sources: http://www.everyculture.com/North-America/Ojibwa-Marriage-and-Family.html
http://ojibwemarriagecustoms132c-7and8.blogspot.ca/
https://www.manataka.org/page348.html#Algonquin%20Traditions
Ojibwe wedding (modern): http://www.butterfly-photography.ca/2011/07/traditional-ojibwe-wedding.html
https://prezi.com/deqmfjzrzozw/ojibway-marriage-traditions/
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1409361?read-now=1&seq=3#page_scan_tab_contents