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 has no known connection to the traditions of the Apache or any other Native American group.
It was written for the 1947 Western novel Blood Brother by Elliott Arnold.[1] The blessing entered popular consciousness when it made its way into the film adaptation of the novel Broken Arrow, scripted by Albert Maltz. The Economist, citing Rebecca Mead's book on American weddings,[2] characterized it as "'traditionalesque', commerce disguised as tradition".[3]
The first line of the original poem was "Now for you there is no rain" and the last "Now, forever, forever, there is no loneliness". Since 1950, there have since been several different versions of the poem. The film text begins "'Now you will feel no rain" and ends "And may your days be good and long upon the earth."
Notes
- ↑ New York, Duell, Sloan and Pearce, p. 332
- ↑ Rebecca Mead, One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding, 2007, ISBN 1-59420-088-2
- ↑ "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
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