The binding strip was used by some clans of the Blackfoot, it binds not only the hearts but the souls of the two people making them one, all his and her joys and pains are shared so that each may help the other through both good and bad times. Historically this would be strip leather with a story either painted or beaded on it and blessed by a Medicine Man. At the ceremony the elder would speak the story and explain to the two he tied their hands (his warriors fighting hand and her opposite hand). They would be lead to their lodge and told that the binding of there hands is a test of there commitment to each other and that the hands should still be bound in the morning when they would come from the lodge. In some sub-clans gifts would be places in front of the lodge on a hide or hides through the night, these may be as simple as a rock, bead or feather but may be as valuable as a horse, or a favorite knife. These gifts where meant to not only honor the union but show the great spirit that the clan agreed with the union and also to show the two that the clan recognized the value that the new couple would bring to the clan as well as the tribe. In our ceremony we chose to use a strip make of beads since by the time the mountain man began to interact with the tribes of the western mountains (Rockies) beads where of great value. This strip would still tell a story and would belong to both so that the two would share in it's value but our hands where not bound in the same way since in the white man traditions after the ceremony the couple will join with others in celebration. The story on our binding strap says Thundering Buffalo from the land of the cactus and Lady Buffalo from the land of the plains come together to share one lodge. This binding strap will be displayed proudly in our home and in our camp for all to see the union and know that we are now one. During our ceremony we both had baskets with beads in them to symbolize the things we have in our heart as two separate persons, we both would take a handful of beads in turn, explain there meaning and then cast them aside, removing them from our lives. Once the baskets where empty we would give the other the basket to symbolize that our heart and soul belong the other and that they where only one who would now fill them. Once the baskets where empty Rodslinger bound us for all time, both in this land and the land that follows.