- Indian Wedding Blessing
-
The Indian Wedding Blessing, Apache Wedding Prayer, and other variants, is commonly recited at weddings in the United States. It is not associated with any particular religion and indeed does not mention a deity or include a petition, only a wish.
It was written for the 1950 Western novel Blood Brother (novel) by Elliott Arnold. The blessing entered popular consciousness when it made its way into the film adaptation of the novel Broken Arrow, scripted by Albert Maltz, and has no known connection to the traditions of the Apache or any other Native American group. The Economist, citing Rebecca Mead's book on American weddings,[1] characterized it as "'traditionalesque', commerce disguised as tradition".[2]
Since 1950, there have since been several different additions and alterations to the poem.
The film text is as follows:
Now you will feel no rain,
For each of you will be shelter to the other.
Now you will feel no cold,
For each of you will be warmth to the other.
Now there is no more loneliness,
For each of you will be companion to the other.
Now you are two bodies,
But there is one life before you.
Go now to your dwelling place,
To enter into the days of your togetherness.
And may your days be good and long upon the earth.Notes
- ^ Rebecca Mead, One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding, 2007, ISBN 1594200882
- ^ "American weddings: Beware the bridezilla monster", The Economist. May 26, 2007. Vol. 383, Issue 8530, p. 99. (A review of the book One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding. By Rebecca Mead. Penguin Press.) full text (available to subscribers only)
External references
- Text of the Apache Wedding Prayer at about.com
This culture-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
