Watch: Following Tradition, Mexican Mayor Weds Alligator To Secure Abundance

A small-town Mexican mayor married his alligator bride on Friday (June 30) in a colorful ceremony as traditional music rang out and revelers danced while imploring the indigenous leader to seal the nuptials with a kiss. San Pedro Huamelula Mayor Victor Sosa obliged more than once during Friday's wedding, bending down to plant his lips on the small alligator's snout, which had been tied shut presumably to avoid unwanted biting.

The ritual marriage likely dates back centuries to pre-Hispanic times among Oaxaca state's Chontal and Huave indigenous communities, like a prayer pleading for nature's bounty. Oaxaca, located in Mexico's poor south, is arguably the region's richest in indigenous culture and home to many groups that have stubbornly maintained their languages and traditions.

The age-old ritual in San Pedro Huamelula, now mixed with Catholic spirituality, involves dressing the alligator or caiman in a white wedding dress plus other colorful garments. The seven-year-old reptile, referred to as a little princess, is believed to be a deity representing mother earth, and her marriage to the local leader symbolizes the joining of humans with the divine.

As trumpets blared and drums provided a festive beat, locals carried the alligator bride in their arms through village streets as men fanned it with their hats.