(Image Information: Wedding Party
The Smithsonian Institution Source: Flickr)
The people of the Great Plains were one of the richest. They lived in in a large camp full of crops and machinery to conduct business. However, there was a problem. There were more men than women in this area. It was time for the chief's two sons to be married, but there were no suitable women. Many women were already taken, and those that were left were not of appeal to the chief's sons.
Sun and Star, who were brother and sister, were noticing the problem. Sun said to his sister, "These two boys are struggling to find their future wives. Maybe we should go down there and help them." With this, Star agreed, and the two dressed and went down to Earth.
One night, two women came to the camp. Both looked as if they had been traveling for days. They had ripped clothes and a sack on their backs. Sun and Star sent these two poor women. They needed a place to spend the night, so the two of them slept on the ground of the camp until morning arrived.
When morning came, the chief's wife noticed these two men on the ground and went to her husband to report her findings. "My dear husband, two poor women have arrived on our campgrounds. They are sleeping on the ground. Should we help them?" asked the chief's wife.
"Let me speak to them," said the chief.
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"What has brought you both here?" asked the chief.
The older sister replied, "Well, we have come from our old campgrounds. Everyone was killed in a fire. We were only to escape. We come with treasures that could be saved from the fire in order to pay you for your hospitality."
"Do not worry. You may stay here. But, you must contribute to our campgrounds businesses. Find a place to work, and I will house you here," said the chief.
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Days had passed and the two women were now a part of this society. One afternoon, the chief called all single women to the center of the campgrounds for a brief meeting.
"Hello everyone. I come with you today a challenge. My two sons are seeking wives and in order to settle who should marry them, I have set out the next two days for contests to prove your abilities to be one of their wives."
The two poor women decided this might be a chance to prove their worth. For they had lost everything, and while they did not have a family or riches, they knew they could be the best wives the chief's sons could ever marry.
The two sisters looked at each other and decided they would compete.
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Day 1 had arrived. The chief began to gather all of the potential wives and began explaining the first-day contest rules.
"Today, you all will be making a cooked meal for my two sons. You will be judged on presentation and taste. Your dishes will also be given a comparison to my wife's cooking. These two men will be looking for the women who can cook like their mother. Please bring your dishes by sundown."
The women ran back to their kitchens and began cooking. The two sisters had luckily been housed by the chief, so they had been eating the chief's wife's cooking for the past few days they had arrived. The two sisters began making all they had eaten while at their time here. This was going to be an easy win.
What these two women didn't know was that the sons had already had their desires to be with the chief's friend's daughters. These two daughters also really knew the cooking of the son's mother due to being invited to several dinners.
Sundown had arrived and the women brought their dishes. The two sons began tasting, and a decision was made.
"Thank you, everyone, for your dishes. They were all very good. However, there are 4 women who are going to proceed to tomorrow's contests," said the chief.
The chief announced that the two poor women and the two daughters of his friend were moving onto the next day's contest.
Before parting, the chief announced the next day's contest.
"The two women who can weave a basket with the best design will be the ones to marry my sons," said the chief.
Excited to hear about this, all 4 women left to sleep and prepare for the next day.
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The next day arrived and having already known the challenge the women began to weave.
People around the campgrounds began to gossip about who they think would win.
"Haha, those poor women do not have a chance. I doubt they have had any practice weaving," said one.
"You are right. Those poor women don't have a chance against the other two women. We have all known all along that those two were the ones made for the chief's sons," said another.
Sundown came and was time to face the decisions made by the chiefs and his sons.
"While it was a hard decision to make. I stand before you today to announce that the newcomers of our campgrounds will now be wedded to my sons. These women have proved themselves to be the best caretakers and will contribute great success to the businesses of this campground with the skills they have," said the chief.
The people of the campground were shocked. How could these two poor, filthy women be the winners?
The two sons began to read the expressions held by the people around them and realized this decision had shocked everyone. The older son stood up to speak and said, "Now, I can see that many of you are surprised. But, we must think about how we got to be one of the most successful camps in the Plains. We did not judge each other. We supported each other. These two women here have proved themselves, and we know the future of our people will be in great hands with these two women as our wives. We mustn't judge from the outside."
People began to see what the elder son was saying, and over time, began accepting the two women. The people of the Great Plains became the most successful, and the past of the two poor women did not matter. They were in a better place now. They had a family. This was their home.
Author's Note: This story was based on the Native American Hero tale titled "Dirty-Boy" where a poor grandmother and her grandson arrive at a campsite and the chief's daughter eventually marries him. I decided to change the gender roles and made it where the sons were looking for women to marry. The original story had one daughter marry against the chief's will and the other daughter married the "dirty-boy", but in this story, I had two poor women arrived and the two sons marry both of the "dirty-girl". The contests used for story involved the roles that most Native American women must have played at this time in this story - cooking, taking care of a family, and involved with making clothes, baskets, and jewelry.
Bibliography: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson
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