10 THE SERI INDIANS [eth. asn.17 



cases these ai'e iu clusters pertaining to matronymic family groups; iu 

 other cases they are isolated, and are then often abandoned and reoc- 

 cupied repeatedly, and are apparently common property of the tribe. 

 The habitations afford some i)rotection from sun and wind, but not 

 from cold and wet, which are hardly known in winterless and nearly 

 rainless Seriland. 



The Seri clothing consists essentially of a kilt or skirt extending 

 from waist to knees; sometimes a pelican-skin robe is worn as a 

 blanket or mantle, and used also as bedding; the head and feet, as 

 well as the bust and arms, are habitually bare, though a loose-sleeved 

 wamnius reaching not quite to the waist is sometimes worn. These gar- 

 ments were formerly woven of coarse threads or cords made from native 

 vegetal fibers; the belt is generally of twisted human hair, of horse hair, 

 of dressed deerskin,' or of snake skin; the robe consists of four, six, or 

 eight pelican skins sewed together with sinew. Tbe pelican-skin robes 

 are still used, though the aboriginal fabric is commonly replaced by 

 cotton stuffs obtained through barter or plunder. ( 'ords of human 

 hair and skins of serpents are used for necklaces. 



The sports and gaines of the Seri Indians include racing and dancing, 

 and there are ceremonial dances at the girls' xJuberty feasts, accom- 

 panying the rude music of improvised drums. Decoration is ordinarily 

 limited to symbolic face-painting, which is seen especially among the 

 females, and to crude ornamentation of the scanty apparel. A peculiar 

 pottery is manufactured, and the pieces are sometimes decorated with 

 simple designs in plain colors. 



The bow and arrow are habitually used, especially in warfare, and 

 turtles and fish are taken by means of harpoons, shafted with cane and 

 usually tipped with bone, charred wood, or flotsam metal. The arrows 

 are sometimes provided with chipped stone points, though the art of 

 chipping seems to be accultural and shamanistic. The ordiuarj- stone 

 implements are used for crushing bone and severing sinew or flesh, and 

 also for mulling seeds and other food substances; they are mere cob- 

 bles, selected for fitness, and retained only if their fitness is increased 

 by the wear of use, after the manner of protolithic culture. (Graceful 

 balsas are made from canes, bound together with mesquite-flber cords; 

 and on these the people freely navigate the narrow but stormy strait 

 separating Tiburon and the neighboring islets from the mainland. 

 They make a distinctive pottery, which is remarkably light and fragile. 

 Its chief use is carrying water to habitations (always located miles from 

 the spring or tinaja) or on desultory wanderings. Shells are used for 

 cups, and to some extent for implements. They have a few baskets, 

 which are not greatly different from those made by neighboring tribes. 



The modern Seri are loosely organized in a number of maternal 

 .groups or clans, which are notable for the prominence given to mother- 

 right in maiTiage and for some other customs ; and there are indications 

 that the clan orttauization was more definite before the tribe was so 



