Kurdish Wedding, Nashville, TN, 1994

The gowand/govand is a line dance, usually accompanied by a drum/ dulul, and a powerful oboe/ zurna. Dancers link by holding another's little finger. A legendary Kurdish leader once claimed, "One who cannot dance is not a Kurd."

Katrina Thomas's notes: A Middle Eastern minority populace, inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes parts of Turkey, Iraq, and Iran, Kurds are Sunni Muslims without a stable homeland. Fleeing Iraq, they have sought asylum in the U.S., where a significant number have settled in Nashville, TN. Marriages are arranged and the couple is considered to be married when the mahr is paid, although neither party need be present. My only opportunity to photograph is on a wedding day, when the bride is being prepared to meet her bridegroom for the first time, and after, at the reception, when their guests are dancing and the newlyweds are sitting sit side-by-side on the sidelines. Today these customs are no longer kept, except for the gowand/govand line dancing and some older men wearing traditional headdress on formal occasions. Instead, couples fall in love and are married by a mullah. Depending upon the bridegroom's wealth, the mahr may or may not be paid.