Indian Wedding Blessing

rdf:langString Indian Wedding Blessing

rdf:langString A poem known variously as the "Indian Wedding Blessing", "Apache Blessing", "Apache Wedding Prayer", "Benediction of the Apaches", "Cherokee Wedding Blessing", and with various forms, is commonly recited at weddings in the United States. The poem is of modern non-Native origin, and is fake folklore (fakelore). The poem was originally written in 1947 by the non-Native author Elliott Arnold in his Western novel Blood Brother. The novel features Apache culture, but the poem itself is an invention of the author's, and is not based on any traditions of the Apache, Cherokee or any other Native American culture. The poem was popularized by the 1950 film adaptation of the novel, Broken Arrow, scripted by Albert Maltz, and the depiction of the marriage is criticized as a "Hollywood fantasy" (Hollywood Indian stereotype).