Home of Hosteen Claw Begay, grandfather of the bride.
Bride Wilma R
Marriage
The Navajo way
A Navajo marriage is more of an arrangement between the two families than between individuals.
Gary Mason, assistant professor in photojournalism, and his wife were recently invited to the Navajo marriage ceremony of friends they made while working on a Navajo reservation in New Mexico. While attending the marriage he and an assistant were permitted to take photographs of the ceremony.
The ceremony was held in a ceremonial bogan at the home of Hosteen Claw Begay, the bride's grandfather, who is also a medicine man. Begay's home is on the Navajo reservation near Shipprock, New Mexico.
Custom requires that the bride, Wilma Redhorse, and the groom, Harrison Charley arrive at the Hogan from opposite directions. Charley traveled across the desert from the east while Miss Redhorse arrived from the west.
A hogan is made of vertical logs for the walls with horizontal logs placed atop them for the roof. The door always faces the east. The hogan is more spacious than it looks from the outside. During the ceremony approximately 40 persons were sitting inside. There is a square window in the roof to let the smoke out, but during the marriage ceremony there was no fire.
6 KANSAN June 26 1970
Charley and his family entered the hogan first. His family and his guests sat on one side of the hogan while Miss Redhorse's family sat on the other side. After Charley entered the hogan, Miss Redhorse and her family walked from her grandmother's house to the hogan, a distance of 400 yards, carrying food for the marriage feast and the marriage basket.
It was explained at the outset of the ceremony that the white people present were invited guests and were permitted to take pictures of the ceremony. The ceremony was spoken entirely in the Navajo language.
Miss Redhorse's uncle, Charles Begay, performed the ceremony, while her grandfather directed him in its execution. Begay first gave Charley a gourd of water. With the gourd he washed his bride's hands. Begay then took the gourd and gave it to the bride, who washed the groom's hands.
The bride and groom mixed yellow and blue corn meal in the marriage basket and then ate of the meal starting in the north section of the basket. They then each ate some of the corn meal from the east, west, and south sections of the basket.
The eating from the four sections of the basket symbolized the four sacred mountains of the Navajos, the La Plata mountains in the north, the Sierra Blanca peak in the east, the San Francisco peak in the west and Mt. Taylor in the south.
The food brought into the hogan was eaten by everyone. No food is left, it is either eaten or taken home. The bride's mother gave the groom's mother food and a blanket symbolizing that the families are one. The bride and groom then introduced their families and guests.
Wilma Redhorse attended Kansas State Teachers College at Emporia under a tribal scholarship and is now working for her tribe. Harrison Charley is also working for the tribe and will, as is customary, live with his wife's family.
The marriage ceremony
Photos by Gary Mason and Greg Sorber
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