Dàni Weddings
Weddings among the Dàni are a simple affair. They don't go in for the public ceremony style favoured by many other cultures, so 'wedding' may not be the most accurate term.
A wedding begins when a person from a Scimitar Cat clan arrives at the house of a person they fancy from a Bear clan. There, they will ask that person's guardians if they may wed. The genders of the participants don't matter in determining who proposes to whom; the important thing is if you are a cat or a bear. Cats always take the lead.
If the guardians agree, they will call in their child and ask for their opinion. Most often, the pair have already been romantically involved informally, and formally arriving to ask for their hand in marriage is rarely a surprise. Thus, it's rarely turned down, though if the propositioned bride or groom rejects, the proposer must leave and the marriage will not continue without their consent.
If the bear does agree, the cat is welcomed into the house and the two will be left alone for the rest of the day. Proposals occur in the morning, and that evening, they will serve a large meal to the bear's family. The two are expected to work together to catch the fish, gather the blackcurrants, and prepare all the food. This is a test of their ability to cooperate and work together. At any point in this process, either of them can call the whole thing off if it seems like they can't work well together.
It's not entirely necessary to cook a good meal. In fact, they don't even have to cook the traditional blackcurrant-cured salmon and rice if they can't acquire the ingredients, or if they mess up the preparation and end up serving nothing but rice and cabbage. The only thing that will keep the marriage from going through is the couple's decision, although the quality of the meal is thought to be indicative of the quality of the marriage. More than a few young couples have faced years of doubt and skepticism from family members after overcooking the salmon at their wedding.
After the big family meal, the couple will spend the night together. They are expected to have sex; it doesn't matter if either is a virgin. Pre-marital sex is frowned upon, but because a marriage isn't finalized until after a couple's first night together, it's not unheard of for someone to have been through multiple wedding nights before finding "the one".
In the morning, the elder of the bear person's clan comes to the house. He or she will meet with each member of the couple individually as ask if they wish to confirm the marriage. This is a person's last chance to back out, and is done in private so that family members, at least, don't necessarily know who rejected whom (or even if both rejected the other!). After meeting in private, the elder gathers the couple and the bear's family together in the house and either declares them husband and wife, or declares the wedding a failure.
If they are successfully wedded, the scimitar cat person will stay with their new family until they are able to build their own home close by.
A wedding begins when a person from a Scimitar Cat clan arrives at the house of a person they fancy from a Bear clan. There, they will ask that person's guardians if they may wed. The genders of the participants don't matter in determining who proposes to whom; the important thing is if you are a cat or a bear. Cats always take the lead.
If the guardians agree, they will call in their child and ask for their opinion. Most often, the pair have already been romantically involved informally, and formally arriving to ask for their hand in marriage is rarely a surprise. Thus, it's rarely turned down, though if the propositioned bride or groom rejects, the proposer must leave and the marriage will not continue without their consent.
If the bear does agree, the cat is welcomed into the house and the two will be left alone for the rest of the day. Proposals occur in the morning, and that evening, they will serve a large meal to the bear's family. The two are expected to work together to catch the fish, gather the blackcurrants, and prepare all the food. This is a test of their ability to cooperate and work together. At any point in this process, either of them can call the whole thing off if it seems like they can't work well together.
It's not entirely necessary to cook a good meal. In fact, they don't even have to cook the traditional blackcurrant-cured salmon and rice if they can't acquire the ingredients, or if they mess up the preparation and end up serving nothing but rice and cabbage. The only thing that will keep the marriage from going through is the couple's decision, although the quality of the meal is thought to be indicative of the quality of the marriage. More than a few young couples have faced years of doubt and skepticism from family members after overcooking the salmon at their wedding.
After the big family meal, the couple will spend the night together. They are expected to have sex; it doesn't matter if either is a virgin. Pre-marital sex is frowned upon, but because a marriage isn't finalized until after a couple's first night together, it's not unheard of for someone to have been through multiple wedding nights before finding "the one".
In the morning, the elder of the bear person's clan comes to the house. He or she will meet with each member of the couple individually as ask if they wish to confirm the marriage. This is a person's last chance to back out, and is done in private so that family members, at least, don't necessarily know who rejected whom (or even if both rejected the other!). After meeting in private, the elder gathers the couple and the bear's family together in the house and either declares them husband and wife, or declares the wedding a failure.
If they are successfully wedded, the scimitar cat person will stay with their new family until they are able to build their own home close by.
Related Ethnicities
