Native American Wedding Vows & Readings

Native American wedding readings, blessings & vows

 

Including a few traditional elements into your wedding ceremony is a great way to honor your heritage, with many meaningful Native American wedding rituals and traditions to consider as you plan your wedding. 

 

One of the most beautiful of these rituals is the exchange of wedding vows and special readings. These parts of the wedding ceremony are also easy to personalize, to honor multiple cultures and faiths, and many different kinds of love. 

 

Because every tribe and band has its own unique wedding rituals and traditions, we won’t cover all of them here. Instead, we’ve gathered just a few of the most popular and lasting examples to inspire you. 

 

These examples honor the deep connection and collaboration with nature and the spirits that surround us, the beauty and abundance of the natural world, the fleeting and beautiful gift of life, and the power of true love. Use them as wedding prayers and blessings, have a loved one read your favorite as part of the ceremony, or include your favorite lines as part of your personal written vows. 

 

Note: Unfortunately, some traditional Indigenous prayers and readings have been lost over time. What’s even trickier? Some popular ‘Native American’ wedding ceremony readings aren’t actually authentic. A lot of them are relatively new (like the famous ‘Apache’ wedding blessing that was created by a white director for a 1950 Jimmy Stewart movie called Broken Arrow), or are Christian adaptations of Indigenous ideas and spirituality. And some Native American blessings that you’ll find might be traditional, but they’ve been misattributed to specific tribes or individuals.  

 

That being said, we’ve done our best to check everything included below. But if you come across a prayer, blessing, or reading that doesn’t have completely clear origins and it resonates with you—use it! Make it yours, create new traditions, and celebrate in any way that feels meaningful to you.

 

 

Native American Wedding Vows (Examples & Inspiration)

 

Traditional Native American wedding vows aren’t well documented. But oral traditions tell us that they are inspired by spiritual and cultural values shared across nations: respect, unity, honoring the land, nature, community, and reverence for ancestors. 

 

Here are a few examples of modern wedding vows inspired by these Native American values and spirituality. These are not traditional Native American wedding vows, but instead modern adaptations based on values commonly shared by Native American cultures. They are a good starting point to help you write your own vows. 

 

Example One (Inspired by Navajo Wedding Vows / Diné Wedding Vows):

 

“Today, I vow to walk this path with you,
Through life’s challenges and joys.
Under skies dark or bright, 
Past waters rough or still,  
I take you as my (husband / wife / spouse), 
To step in harmony with each other, 
Within the warm circle of our home, 
With Father Sky and Mother Earth.
Through every change and in every season, 
I love you.”

 

Example Two (Inspired by Cherokee Wedding Vows / Ani-Yunwiya Wedding Vows):

 

“Today, Great Spirit (Unetlanvhi) blesses us and makes us a family. May our love be as solid as the mountain, and as open-hearted as the sky. May our anger pass as quickly as a storm, and our joys shine upon our hearts like the sun. And may our love be powerful and ever-new as the river, carrying us home all the days of our lives. Here, before our friends, family, and ancestors, I pledge my love to you.”

 

Example Three (Inspired by Lakota Sioux Wedding Vows):

 

“Dearest (name), here, surrounded by the abundance of our Creator (Wakan Tanka or Wakȟáŋ Tȟáŋka), soft earth beneath our feet and sky above, blessed by love and family, I vow to be your (wife / husband / spouse). To face life’s challenges and joys with you, to comfort and protect you, to laugh and play with you. To be your best friend and tireless supporter in every season, for as long as we live.”

If these vow examples don’t work for you, try writing your own vows by incorporating themes of community, harmony, nature, spirituality, and love. Playful humor and real examples from your relationship can help you write authentic promises for the future! You might also want to use one or two of your favorite lines from the spiritual readings and verses below. 

 

 

Above: A smudge stick used in prayer rituals. Native american wedding readings are a meaningful way to weave family heritage, faith, and culture into a modern wedding ceremony. Friends and family members can participate in the ceremony with a special reading, or ask your officiant to include a verse or two during the invocation or closing blessing. (Photo: :PamWalker68 / iStock)

 

 

Native American Wedding Ceremony Readings (Traditional & Modern)

 

1. "The Heart’s Friend"
A Shoshone Love Song & Wedding Blessing

 

“Fair is the white star of twilight, and the sky clearer
at the day's end, but she is fairer, and she is dearer
She, my heart's friend.

Fair is the white star of twilight, and the moon roving
to the sky's end; but she is fairer, better worth loving
She, my heart's friend.”

 

About this reading: This transcription (and translation) of a traditional Shoshone love song is often used as a wedding blessing or in wedding vows. It’s an excerpt from “Medicine Songs; Transcribed from the Indian Originals by Mary Austin,” published in “Everybody’s Magazine” in 1914; via the University of Virginia online archive and Archive.org.

 

 

2. Modern Navajo Wedding Blessing

A Navajo Wedding Blessing About Lasting Love & Commitment

 

“Now you have lit a fire, and that fire should not go out. The two of you now have a fire that represents love, understanding, and a philosophy of life. It will give you heat, food, warmth, and happiness. The new fire represents a new beginning—a new life and a new family. The fire should keep burning; you should stay together. You have lit the fire for life until old age separates you.”

 

About this reading: This Native American wedding blessing is often attributed to the Navajo people and has been used in many modern Navajo weddings. It's a perfect reading for a unity candle ceremony, fire ceremony, or as a blessing from the wedding officiant. (However it can only be traced back to the late 1990s, becoming popular in the early 2000s; It is a modern prayer.)

 

 

3. "Only For a Short While"
An Aztec Prayer About Love & Impermanence 

 

“Oh, only for so short a while you 
have loaned us to each other, 
because we take form in your act 
of drawing us, 

 

And we take life in your painting us, 
and we breathe in your singing us. 

But only for so short a while 
have you loaned us to each other.”

 

About this reading: The source of this prayer is unknown; it’s commonly believed to be an Aztec Indian (Mexica) prayer and is often used as a wedding reading or wedding blessing. This version is from the ERIC Sharing Our Pathways Newsletter Archive; Alaska Federation of Natives & University of Alaska Fairbanks; and the Alaska Native Knowledge Network. 

 

 

4. "Prayer for Life"
A Tewa (Pueblo) Prayer About a Long Life & Love

 

"Our old women gods, we ask you!
Our old women gods, we ask you!
Then give us long life together,
May we live until our frosted hair is white;
May we live till then.
This life that now we know!"

 

About this reading: This traditional Tewa prayer (of the Tewa Pueblo North American Indians) has been passed down as part of the oral tradition; via Xavier University Jesuit Resource

 

 

5. Dakota Prayer
A Dakota Sioux Prayer for Guidance & Strength

 

“Grandfather, Great Spirit, you have been always,
and before you nothing has been. There is no one to
pray to but you. The star nations all over the
heavens are yours, and yours are the grasses of the
earth. You are older than all need, older than all
pain and prayer.

 

Grandfather, Great Spirit, look upon your children,
the Spirit Lake Oyate, that they may face the winds
and walk the good road to the day of quiet.

 

Grandfather, Great Spirit, fill us
with the light. Give us the
strength to understand and eyes to see.
Teach us to walk the soft earth,
as relatives, to all that live.

 

Help us, for without you we are
Nothing.”

 

About this reading: This prayer is sometimes attributed to Black Elk (an Oglala Lakota holy man); Dakota and Lakota are both part of the Sioux Nation and share many spiritual practices. It is sometimes included as a special reading or prayer in religious / spiritual Native American weddings. This version of the popular reading has been passed down by The Spirit Lake Nation in North Dakota, which includes the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Dakota Sioux. 

 

 

6. Lakota Sioux Prayer
A Lakota Sioux Prayer for Guidance & Gratitude

 

"O, Great Spirit; Whose voice I hear in the winds, and Whose breath gives life to all the world, hear me. I come before You, one of Your many children. I am small and weak. I need Your strength and wisdom.

 

Let me walk in beauty and make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset. Make my hands respect the things You have made, my ears sharp to hear Your voice. Make me wise, so that I may know the things You have taught my people, the lesson You have hidden in every leaf and rock.

 

I seek strength not to be superior to my brothers, but to be able to fight my greatest enemy—myself. Make me ever ready to come to You with clean hands and straight eyes, so when life fades as a fading sunset, my spirit may come to You without shame."

 

About this reading: This Sioux prayer was translated into English by Lakota Sioux Chief Yellow Lark in the late 1800s. There are two main variations. This version was shared by Eleanor Roosevelt in her newspaper column “My Day” in 1956, via The George Washington University Library. Another shorter version can be found here, via The Harvard Square Library.

 

 

7. Modern Mohawk Smudge Prayer
Excerpt from a modern Mohawk smudge prayer. Visit Pass the Feather to read the full prayer and ritual.  

 

“Courage - I wash my hands in the sweet smoke so that they may be constructive and reach out to others in a good way.

 

Honesty - I bring the smoke over my head and down my back to lighten my troubles and bring clarity of purpose.
 
Respect - I smudge my eyes so that I will see good things in people and learn from them.

 

Truth - I smudge my mouth so that I will speak good things to people and learn to choose my words carefully.”

 

(This is only an excerpt.)

 

About this reading: This smudge prayer was written by Dawn Iehstoseranón:nha, a member of the Bear Clan of the Mohawk (Kanien’kehà:ka) territories of Tyendinaga (Akwesasne and Kenhtè:ke), via Toronto Metropolitan University and Pass the Feather. Smudging rituals are sometimes part of Native American and North American Indigenous weddings. 

 

 

8. One last reading… The Apache Wedding Blessing (That Isn’t Really Apache, or Native American)

 

“Now you will feel no rain,
for each of you will be shelter for the other.
Now you will feel no cold,
for each of you will be warmth for the other.
Now there is no more loneliness.
Now you are two persons,
but there is only one life before you.
May your days together be good and long
upon the earth.”

 

About this reading: This beautiful reading has been used in countless Native American weddings, so we're including it here too, because it's become part of the modern tradition. But as we mentioned above, this Native American wedding blessing isn’t Native American at all! It’s from the 1950 revisionist Western “Broken Arrow,” starring that Old Hollywood hunk, Jimmy Stewart. Still, although it’s not an authentic Apache wedding blessing, you can absolutely use this reading in your ceremony if it resonates with you. It captures many of the values and natural elements important to Indigenous spirituality, and would be a sweet addition to any wedding.

 

 

Want to read more traditional Native American wedding prayers and blessings? 

 

For more traditional Native American wedding prayers and blessings, we recommend you contact tribal cultural centers and tribal websites directly. Many wedding customs are passed down primarily through word of mouth among members (oral tradition), or kept private (a.k.a not on the internet) out of respect for their spiritual importance. Most modern tribal communities have websites with updated contact information and will be able to answer respectful questions.

 

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Ask a Friend to Officiate Your Wedding!

Good things happen when friends and relatives help out at the wedding ceremony! Having a friend officiate your wedding is more affordable than hiring a professional officiant, and a great way to ensure the wedding day is as intimate and personal as it can be. When a loved one officiates, every moment means more! 

Ask a friend or family member to officiate your wedding with free online ordination through American Marriage Ministries (AMM). 

|* custom-button, "https://theamm.org/ordination-application", "ORDAINED MINISTER ONLINE APPLICATION" *|

Why AMM? American Marriage Ministries is an inclusive nondenominational internet church that ordains and trains ministers to officiate marriage ceremonies. We are a recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit church, and help people from all backgrounds and beliefs become ordained ministers for weddings. Our online ordination is free, accessible, and never expires.

 

Officiating weddings is an incredible honor, and a great way to show your love and support for the people getting married. As a wedding officiant, you will help to create memorable ceremonies and memories that last a lifetime.

AMM Ministers can legally officiate weddings in every state* (it's much harder in Virginia, where we're looking into our options). After getting ordained with AMM, you might need to register your ordination with your local county clerk’s office. Click the link above to get started! 

 

 

Become an ordained minister online with American Marriage Ministries and officiate wedding for friends and relatives. (Photo: Viktor / Adobe Stock)

 

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