"Boom, boom, boom! The divine Sky, Earth, coasts, mountains, and rivers gaze upon us together!... Jingle, jingle! This is a wedding blessed by the ancestors, the joining of the Longship Tribe from the sea with us lakeside people!... Aiyo-yo! The Sky God opens His eyes over the great sea and laughs out a storm of joy!..."
The wedding blessed by the ancestors was held on the sands of the lake bay. According to Wiyot clan tradition, the bride's family presided over the wedding, provided the food, and entertained guests from the various tribes. At this moment, hundreds of Wiyot tribespeople were beating the heavy Tuluwat Drum and shaking celebratory wooden bells. They gathered in heaps along the shore, singing and dancing to their hearts' content.
Tujing, chief of the Lake Garden Tribe, stood smiling on an ancient stone platform, reciting the blessings for the newlyweds. Before the platform, the families and clansmen of both sides stood to the left and right, while in the center were the bride and groom being wed.
The young priest Xi Feng wore a white sacrificial robe and a gray windproof hat. Two long heron feathers were stuck into either side of the hat, fluttering in the sea breeze. This was the ceremonial hat of the Wiyot Tribe; from a distance, it looked just like two reeds.
At this moment, beneath the reed hat, the young priest Xi Feng stood stock-still, dazed, as if somewhat absentminded. His figure was not thin or weak, but compared with the woman on his left, he was clearly a size smaller. And the woman on his left was none other than his newly wedded wife, the female tribal leader Tulan. Right now, Tulan was wearing a bright blue cloth robe, beaming with joy as she loudly greeted the relatives